Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Matching caps— Yes! It will be so cute! Jeno, why are you looking at me like that?"

Renjun scrunches his nose at Donghyuck's idea, shaking his head as his answer. Jeno reciprocates, so Jaemin joins in and does so as well.

"And why not?" Donghyuck whines, stomping his foot on the floor childishly. Jeno snorts from where he's spinning around in Donghyuck's gaming chair, and Renjun gives him a deadpan look from where he's laying down looking at the ceiling on Donghyuck's bed.

"That's so tacky," Jaemin admits, laying down parallel of Renjun with his head upside down. "It'd make it seem like we're all dating."

"We are," Jeno and Donghyuck say at the same time, leading Jaemin to roll his eyes.

"Right," Jaemin grumbles, acutely ignoring how Renjun, Jeno and Donghyuck throw each other googly eyes.

Ugh. Couples.

Thankfully, he doesn't have to endure their sickeningly sweet presence, or Donghyuck's debate about matching graduation caps, for much longer, seeing as Chenle, Jisung and Mark barge into the room.

"We're back," Chenle greets, holding two boxes of pizza in his hands. "These two are pepperoni."

"This one's supreme," Jisung says, holding up his pizza box before handing it over to Jeno, who perks up immediately.

"Half veggie, half cheese," Mark pipes up, handing one box to Donghyuck and Renjun, before making his way to where Jaemin is still laying upside down. He pauses right in front of Jaemin, crouching down until they were face to face. "And Hawaiian. Sit up."

"What took you guys so long?" Jaemin groans, blood rushing to his head when he sits up too quickly. Mark sits down on the floor by the foot of Donghyuck's bed, and Jaemin joins next to him. The box of pizza is open in front of them, looking hot and promising, and Jaemin's mouth waters. "Left me alone with these fools."

"You could've come with us," Chenle shrugs, already on his second slice of pizza. "Your loss."

"Maybe if you would've saved me from Donghyuck, who'd been holding me hostage—"

"Hey, hey, blood pressure," Mark soothes, handing Jaemin a slice of pizza to calm him down.

Jaemin glares at him, but takes the pizza gratefully.

"How do y'all eat that?" Jeno fake gags from his spot on the chair, to which Mark only flips him off. "Disgusting."

"Well then good thing it's not for you," Jaemin scoffs, protectively moving the pizza box closer to him and Mark.

"You're cranky today," Jisung points out, reaching for his second slice of pepperoni pizza. "You weren't this irritable in the morning."

"Jisung—"

"Blood pressure,"

"Shut up Mark."

"It's because of Donghyuck's dumb idea," Renjun supplies through a mouthful, earning a scolding from Donghyuck for talking while chewing. He disregards Donghyuck's words in favour of continuing. "He wants to customize matching graduation caps."

"Ew," Chenle snorts, earning the agreeing nods from Jeno and Renjun. "Don't do that."

"Exactly what I'm saying," Jaemin mumbles, picking up his second slice while Mark makes his way to his third. "I was gonna put stars and cupcakes on mine."

"What?" Jisung laughs, bursting into giggles. "What's the correlation?"

"I met Renjun in science class," Jaemin explains vaguely. "Jeno threw a cupcake at me first day of culinary class."

"It was an accident! I tripped!"

Jaemin looks at him, deadpan. Jeno shrinks back into his seat.

"What? Nothing for me?" Donghyuck pouts, looking genuinely, awfully upset.

"I just haven't thought of what it could be yet. Maybe an A+, you brainiac."

Donghyuck preens under the backhanded praise, turning back to Renjun to talk about something Jaemin isn't interested in. Jeno is also lost in conversation with Jisung and Chenle, which leaves him with Mark, who's been staring at him for the past few minutes.

"What?" Jaemin barks out, reaching for another slice.

"Don't I get something?"

Confused, Jaemin tilts his head to one side.

"Get what?"

"Something on your cap," Mark clarifies like it's obvious, dipping his pizza crust into a container of garlic sauce. He forgot that was there.

"You've already graduated though," Jaemin points out.

"Yeah, but if the three goons get something, shouldn't I? I'm your best friend," Mark whines, holding out the garlic sauce towards him when he notices Jaemin has reached the crust.

He dips it in, taking a bite.

"What do you want? Glasses?" Jaemin snorts, seeing as Mark is the only one in their friend group who wears his glasses instead of contacts. All their eyes are messed up, except for Donghyuck’s, Chenle’s, and Jaemin’s himself, but Renjun, Jeno, and Jisung wear contacts.

"I'll take that. Just something. It's like my honorary presence."

Jaemin's hand pauses mid-motion, looking up from the tiny container of garlic sauce to Mark's eyes.

"Why honorary? Aren't you going to be at my graduation?"

Jaemin's question is phrased too loud, catching the attention of Renjun, Donghyuck and Jeno too.

"What?" Jeno gawks, sitting up straighter in the chair and looking at Mark, completely appalled. "You're not coming to graduation?"

Mark winces, not so subtly throwing Jaemin a glare for putting him in the spotlight, but Jaemin can't find it in himself to care, not when he's curious for the answer too.

"Nuh uh, I did not buy flowers for your graduation just so you couldn't come to mine," Donghyuck rejects, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"I paid for part of your sushi bill! You have to come to graduation," Renjun says, looking equally as taken aback as the other three.

Jisung and Chenle stay quiet, it's not like it's their graduation, but they're both intrigued as they listen.

"I never said I wasn't going, okay?" Mark clears up. "I just have to go to a lunch that day to meet Taeyong's boyfriend with my parents."

That normally wouldn't be a problem, save for the fact that Mark lives forty minutes away from the town the rest of them reside in, courtesy of the location of his university. There's no saying he'd make it on time for their graduation.

"So you might not be there?" Jaemin mumbles, picking at his crust, suddenly losing his appetite at the prospect of Mark not cheering for them in the audience.

"I'll try," Mark weakly assures, trying to lighten the mood.

"Dude," Donghyuck groans. "This is almost as bad as Jaemin graduating without having his first kiss."

Jaemin splutters at suddenly being put on the spot, and insulted at that, looking at Donghyuck, scandalized.

What was the reason for Donghyuck to bring this up? The only thing it does is gently ebb away the solemn atmosphere, but now Jaemin's flushed red in embarrassment.

"That's so sad, even Jisung's had his first kiss," Renjun cackles, and Jaemin kind of wants to hit him. Not everyone has the luxury of having not one, but two people by their side for kisses whenever they want them.

"What? With who?" Jeno shrieks, this apparently being new information to him.

"Chenle," Jisung proudly admits, looking no one bit embarrassed, despite the aforementioned boy sitting right next to him. "Just to know what it was like."

Jaemin scoffs.

It's not like he has people he could go around to asking for a kiss just to 'know what it's like.'

"Sorry, not all of us are romantically privileged," Jaemin snaps, ignoring the way Jisung rambles, with many stutters, about how he and Chenle aren't romantic.

"It's a kiss Jaemin— It doesn't have to be romantic," Jeno pipes in, tossing his empty pizza box off of his lap and onto the floor. How Jeno manages to eat an entire eight slices on his own, Jaemin has no idea, but he doesn't ask.

"Some of cherish our first kiss," he argues.

"Blood pressure—"

"Oh, shut up about my blood pressure!" He exclaims, slapping Mark's arm. "I'm trying to have an argument here."

"Your points are weak," Donghyuck says dryly, picking the topic back up. "Just admit that no one's caught your eye."

Jaemin doesn't deny that, it's a fair fact. No one has caught his eye enough to want to kiss them, or to want them to kiss him. He didn't think it was such a big deal until everyone in the room was grilling him for it.

"So what?" Jaemin mutters, closing his and Mark's pizza box, seeing as they've both stopped eating. There's only two slices left, and Jaemin doesn't feel weary about shoving it out of the way because he knows no one else likes Hawaiian pizza. "It's not like anyone outside of this room knows."

"Fair point," Jisung shrugs. "Now if you guys are done, can we watch a movie?"

<>

Jaemin is nervous, wringing his fingers in his lap like an idiot.

Who gets nervous about graduating?

It's not like he's scared he's going to trip on the stage, or that his palms are gonna be extremely sweaty when he shakes hands with his principal, or that he's going to make an ugly face.

Maybe it's because he doesn't know if Mark is going to make it not.

Makes sense, his best friend has been there for him during every milestone in his life, and graduation isn't any different. The only difference this time is that there might be something out of Mark's control which can come in the way.

"Your mom sends fruits," said boy announces, walking into Jaemin's bedroom like he didn't have to knock.

To be fair, he didn't, but Jaemin enjoyed a warning every now and then.

Mark puts the plate of cut up apples, strawberries and orange slices on Jaemin's desk, tilting his head confusedly at the forlorn look on the younger's face.

"What?" Jaemin asks, poking one of the two forks into a strawberry. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You seem nervous," he answers, poking his own fork into an apple slice. He squints his eyes, looking into Jaemin's eyes. "I'm trying to figure out why."

Jaemin only scoffs, pushing Mark away with his foot.

"Why are you even here?" Jaemin asks instead of continuing the topic. Deflecting is one of his best skills, he's proud of it. "Don't you have a lunch tomorrow?"

"Right," Mark perks up, clapping his hands together as he puts his fork down. "I came here to ask you what you wanted as a graduation gift."

Jaemin never thought about it, didn't think he'd be getting gifts from anyone except his family. Sure, he got Mark a gift for his graduation last year, but he didn't think he'd be receiving one.

"McDonald's coupons?" He tries, unsure of what to answer with. He hasn't really given this much thought. What could he even ask Mark for? "Why'd you even come all the way just to ask? You could've texted me."

"It's the sentiment," Mark answers, like it's the most obvious thing in the world. "It means more face to face," he adds, stabbing an orange segment and bringing it to his mouth. "And I'm not getting you coupons as a gift dude— What do you really want?"

Jaemin thinks it's weird that Mark is asking him, you don't normally ask the person you're getting a gift for what they want.

But when he thinks about it, with an orange segment in his mouth, an idea pop to his head.

There's no way he can graduate without this, right?

"I want a kiss."

Mark, honest to God, chokes on the strawberry in his mouth.

It takes more than a minute to calm him down and get water down his throat, but once he's done making a scene, his face is read and his eyes are watery.

Jaemin feels his own cheeks heat up at what he just mentioned.

"A kiss? What, do you want me to bring you a random dude? I'm pretty sure Renjun will kiss you without Donghyuck and Jeno minding though," Mark laughs, and Jaemin frowns.

He's being serious. Why was Mark laughing? Was it because Mark graduated after having more than just his first kiss taken away? Maybe he doesn't understand how embarrassing it is, being seventeen and a kiss virgin. Because honestly, especially after everything Donghyuck had thrown at him, it is kind of embarrassing for him. What kind of seventeen year old boy hasn't had their first kiss?

Na Jaemin. That's who.

"Not Renjun," Jaemin whines, begrudgingly shoving an apple slice in his mouth. Suddenly shy, because he realizes how out of left field his request is, he looks up at Mark, mumbling, "Can't you do it?"

"Me?" Mark shrieks, startling Jaemin to the point where he bites on his cheek instead of his apple.

"Dude," Jaemin groans, hand coming up to cradle his left cheek, moaning in pain. "Way to let me know kissing me is such a turnoff," he adds as an afterthought, shoving a strawberry in his mouth and pouting.

"Wait, that's not what I meant—"

"Forget it," Jaemin sighs, turning on his chair with his back now facing Mark. "I don't really want anything else besides food coupons."

Jaemin can hear Mark sigh, but he ignores it in favour of poking around at the plate of fruit.

But then, Mark is spinning him back around in his chair until they're facing each other again. Mark is much closer this time, having to look down at Jaemin, his glasses slowly sliding down the bridge of his nose.

"Why me?" He asks, quirking up an inquisitive eyebrow.

"It's easy to ask you, and I... I trust you," Jaemin shrugs, fiddling with the fork in his mouth. "But if you don't want to, that's okay..."

Mark sighs again.

"It's just that you said your first kiss was supposed to be special..." He trails off, scratching the side of his head, a nervous habit of his.

"You're special," Jaemin whispers, fiddling with his fork again so that he didn't have to look up at Mark. "My best friend."

And then, the atmosphere shifts.

It's no longer Mark being flabbergasted or Jaemin feeling insecure, because now it's Mark stepping closer to him and tilting his head up with a finger under his chin. Now, it's not awkward, but heavy, and Jaemin's breath catches in his throat when he makes eye contact with the older boy.

"Are you sure?" Mark asks gently, quietly and softly, almost as if he was afraid he'd break whatever was around them.

Without a second of hesitation, Jaemin nods his head.

"Is this really the gift you want?" Mark asks, chuckling this time at the absurdity. His finger has moved from under Jaemin's chin to cup his cheek, his other hand moving his pink hair out of his eyes. "I really will get you those coupons if you change your mind."

Jaemin just shakes his head softly, afraid he'd lose the warmth of Mark's touch if he moved too quickly.

"Not changing my mind," he assures. "But you might. I don't know how to kiss someone."

Jaemin can see Mark gulp, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"That's okay," he says, his other hand sliding down from his hair to cup his other cheek. "I'll do the work."

Jaemin nods, and then Mark is bending down more, inching closer until their noses are brushing against each other. When Mark parts his lips, Jaemin giggles a little.

"Smell like oranges," he notes, blushing dark when he notices how he can count every single one of Mark's eyelashes from how close they care.

So that he didn't combust, because his heart is already beating wildly in his chest at the promise of getting his first kiss, Jaemin closes his eyes.

"Could've been worse," he hears Mark say. "I could've had onion rings before this."

Just as Jaemin is about to snort at that, he feels something soft and pillowy touch his lips. The feeling is foreign, gentle and sends tingles down his spine. It's only a press, with just the slightest bit of pressure, and just as fast as it had appeared, it's gone.

Jaemin already misses it, bringing his hands up to grab at Mark's wrist, his fork falling to the floor with a small 'clang'.

"Again," Jaemin whispers, eyes still shut so he that didn't have to see Mark's reaction.

Wordlessly, Mark complies, leaning in again and kissing Jaemin with a bit more pressure, sighing when the younger tilts his head to the side, something Jaemin has seen Jeno do when he was kissing Donghyuck.

And then,

"Open your mouth," Mark mutters when they part a little, mere millimetres between their lips.

Finally, Jaemin opens his eyes, to see Mark already looking into his.

"What?" He whispers, taken aback by the command. And slightly because he doesn't know how to do that.

"Don't you trust me?" Is all he gets back from Mark. He immediately nods his head though, and his heart pounds when Mark smiles. "Then open your mouth a little."

Trusting, because he knows Mark wouldn't do anything to make him uncomfortable, Jaemin closes his eyes again and parts his lips a little. Not even a second passes before Mark is kissing him again, but it's harder than the other times. This time, something wet pokes between his lips, and he gasps, belatedly realizing that it's Mark's tongue.

In shock, Jaemin's mouth opens, and it's wide enough for Mark to swirl his tongue around, licking over Jaemin's teeth and swirling with his own tongue.

He shudders, overwhelmed by the sensation.

His grip tightens on Mark's wrists, jaw slack when Mark finally pulls away, panting slightly as they catch their breath.

"Wow," Jaemin finally whispers, eyes fluttering open again.

"Wow indeed," Mark whispers back, staring at him for a few seconds before clearing his throat. He lets go of Jaemin's face, stepping back and straightening his back. "Well. How does it feel losing your kissing virginity?"

"I feel dirty," Jaemin jokes, willing his cheeks to cool down, he can even feel the heat radiating off of his own face.

Mark laughs a little at that, before silence washes over them. It's not necessarily awkward, more so... Unsure?

What do they do now? They just kissed— What does that mean? Did Jaemin just ruin everything with his selfish request? Did he just flush his life long friendship down the drain—

"I should head back home," Mark's voice interrupts, clearing his throat and collecting his backpack from where he had left it by Jaemin's door.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Jaemin asks, already forgetting about every thought passing through his head when he remembers that there might be a chance Mark won't be able to make it to his graduation.

Mark sighs, and Jaemin feels his previously erratic heart sink to the bottom of his previously butterfly infested stomach.

"I'll try," he finally answers. "I don't wanna miss it."

Dejectedly, Jaemin nods his head.

"Okay," he whispers, pout instinctively taking over his lips at the thought of Mark not being there to see him cross the stage and accept his diploma— or any of them for that matter. Not being there to see Renjun, Jeno and Donghyuck walk across the stage and accept their diplomas.

"Hey," Mark's voice calls, suddenly sounding way closer than it did a few seconds ago. Jaemin looks up, only to see Mark crouching down to be eye level with him. "I'm sorry. I wouldn't wanna miss it," he assures.

"I know,"

Because he does, he knows Mark doesn't like that there's a possibility he can't watch his four friends graduate.

Timing just sucks.

"Cheer up," Mark sighs, ruffing Jaemin's hair. "You're graduating tomorrow!"

The corners of Jaemin's mouth tilt up, suppressing a nervous smile at the reminder.

"Yeah," he shrugs. He looks around his room once before he settles back on Mark, lighting up a little when a thought comes to his mind. "Can I have a compensation kiss?"

Mark raises an eyebrow at this, cheeks darkening in another blush at Jaemin's shameless question.

"You can't just go around asking for kisses," Mark snorts.

Jaemin tilts his head to the side.

"Why not? Kisses can be platonic. Just don't shove your tongue in my mouth next time."

Mark chokes again, but thankfully, he doesn't need water this time, and calms down quicker.

"Jaemin—"

"I'm waiting for my compensation kiss. If I don't see you tomorrow this will compensate for it," the younger cuts off, puckering his lips.

Mark sighs, but leans in and presses a short peck to Jaemin's lips. When he pulls away, the younger frowns.

"That's it?" He asks disappointedly, earning a scoff from Mark.

"Don't get greedy now," he chastises, stepping back and putting his cap back on. "I really need to go now though."

"Drive safe," Jaemin stresses, watching as Mark walks towards his door. "And Mark?"

Mark hums, turning around, already one foot out the door.

Jaemin sends him a small smile.

"I'll see you tomorrow."

<>

The line is tremendously long as Jaemin waits for his name to be announced, and extremely boring too. He can't talk to any of his friends, them being placed in different spots in the alphabetically ordered line.

He simply keeps to himself as he waits for his name to be called, cap and gown growing itchy and irritating. Every few seconds, he finds himself looking into the crowd filled with staff, parents, guardians, and families, only to not see Mark.

So he wills himself to stop checking, and whenever he finds his eyes fleeting over to the crowd, he simply looks at his parents instead.

Mark said he'd try his best to show up, but Jaemin also prepares himself in case he wouldn't be able to.

He tries thinking about something else, like how Jeno would be most likely to trip going up to stairs or how Renjun will have his academics praised when his name is called and how Donghyuck will get honorary mentions as the second runner up for valedictorian.

Before he knows it, there's only a mere five people in front of him in line, setting his nerves ablaze. Renjun, Jeno and Donghyuck have already received their diplomas and have seated themselves, which leaves only Jaemin left from their friend group.

When there's only two more people in front of him, Jaemin can't help his eyes fleeting over the crowd again, meeting eyes with his three fellow graduates, Chenle and Jisung, his parents, but no Mark.

He tries to not let it show on his face that he's disappointed.

Instead, he appreciates the multiple people in the crowd who clap and cheer for him when his name is called, smiling genuinely as he accepts his diploma and walks off the stage. As he's about to take his first step down at the stairs, he casts a glance towards the crowd and sees Mark's unmistakable black undercut and round framed glasses.

With more enthusiasm, Jaemin is barreling down the stair and running towards Mark, throwing himself into the older boy's arms. Mark catches him, and spins him around happily.

"You came!" Jaemin whisper shouts, acutely aware of how he shouldn't disrupt the rest of the names that need to be called. Thankfully, Mark is near the back of the crowd, so there aren't too many eyes on them.

"I told you I wouldn't miss it," Mark whispers back, gently putting Jaemin back down on his feet. "I'm so proud of you."

Jaemin beams under Mark's praise.

"Go back to your seat, the announcement will be soon," the older boy urges, pushing Jaemin by the shoulders. "I'll see you again when everything's over."

Jaemin nods, energized after seeing Mark's face. He scurries back to his seat in the discreet way he can manage, and sits through the rest of the names being called patiently.

After another twenty minutes and the final announcements and congratulations, cheers erupt through the auditorium. Students run to their families and accept all sorts of gifts, flowers, chocolates and such.

Immediately, Jaemin is crushed in a group hug, Jeno, Renjun and Donghyuck's arms around him.

"We graduated!" Donghyuck cheers, ever so excited. He feels content and warm in all their arms, smiling widely when they part.

Each of them make their way to their respective families, despite them all huddling together, and then it's more cheers, congratulatory words and flowers.

Chenle and Jisung hand them each their own boxes of chocolate, and then say something about how if they don't get equal or better treatment at their graduation, their friendship will be over.

Jaemin ignores them in favour of posing for their parents taking pictures.

The whole ordeal takes fifteen minutes before Jaemin is free to talk to Mark again, taking off his cap and excitedly showing it to Mark.

"Look, I added you!" He says, pointing to the drawing between Donghyuck's A+ and Jeno's cupcake.

It's a pair of puckered lips.

Mark guffaws.

"Are you kidding?" He laughs, borderline wheezing at Jaemin's boldness. "Seriously?"

"It's cute, isn't it?" Jaemin smiles, but as he's about to say something else, Renjun's voice cuts through.

"Mark Lee," he seethes, hands on his hips as he stalks towards the aforementioned boy. "You don't show up for my name, Jeno's or Donghyuck's, but you show up for Jaemin's?" He accuses, no real anger in his tone, but Mark still feels guilty.

"I had a rough idea of when the ceremony ended, and I wanted to at least see you all," he explains. "Just so happened Nana hadn't been called yet."

"Just say you like Jaemin better than us," Jeno scoffs, earning a wink from Jaemin.

"I sure hope he likes me better, his tongue was in my mouth last night."

A variety of responses come after that.

Mark is flustered, "Jaemin!"

Donghyuck is simply speechless, same with Renjun. Jeno does a double take, and Jisung simply blinks, as if not processing what Jaemin had just said.

Chenle screeches, "His what was in your what?"

"Chenle!" Mark seethes, putting a hand over the younger's mouth so that he wouldn't be able to yell such misleading things again. Then, he shoots Jaemin a glare. "Do you have no shame?"

Mark knows the answer, knows that Jaemin never has too much shame when talking about something he's proud of, which is odd considering how he was shy given certain topics.

"Nope," he smacks his lips on the 'p', leaning in and pressing the quickest peck to Mark's lips before the latter can move away. "You can be the Donghyuck and Jeno to my Renjun. Easily accessible for kisses."

Renjun scoffs, focusing more on the offense he takes rather Jaemin just kissing Mark, and Mark not doing anything but just taking it.

"Anyway," Jisung diverts, doing everyone a favour by trying to move on. "Lunch?"

<>

Once summer has officially started for everyone, it's all havoc. The first two weeks consists mainly of fluctuating between hanging out at Donghyuck and Chenle's houses, alternating every few days. Mark has moved back for these two months, making him their designated driver wherever they went. They also eat an ungodly amount of pizza and takeout noodles before Renjun had decided that enough was enough, taking meals into his own hands.

Jaemin alternates with Chenle and Donghyuck, only one person is allowed to join Renjun in the kitchen at a time, or else Renjun feels too claustrophobic. Today, it's Chenle's day, and they're all lounging in Chenle's living room. His parents aren't home, and Jeno and Jisung use that to their full advantage with how loud they're yelling at the television as they play a video game.

Jaemin is laying down on one of the couches with his head cushioned in Mark's lap, the latter flipping through the pages of a book while Jaemin is playing PUBG on his phone.

They've been like this for around twenty minutes, before Jaemin holds his phone with one hand while the other scratches at his arm. The itch doesn't go away, and he finds himself mindlessly scratching at the same spot on his arm for the better part of five minutes, before Mark notices.

He puts his book down, folding the top corner of the page down to mark his place, and gently removes Jaemin's hand from his arm, noticing the way his arm twitches a little.

Mark frowns.

"Do you need to eat?" He asks, attaining the younger's attention.

Jaemin stops moving for a second, putting his phone down and sighing.

"Yeah. Yeah um— I think I do," he mutters, slowly siting up straight. If he sits up too quick, he's gonna get a head rush, and that, paired with how he needs something in his system, wasn't a good match.

"Let me go ask how much longer Renjun and Chenle will take—"

"No, um I'll just eat a cookie or something," Jaemin sighs, getting up on his own. Mark immediately stands up next to him, holding onto Jaemin's arm to help stabilize him. "Dude, I'm not going to fall," Jaemin groans.

"Are you sure?" Mark asks, looking too serious about this.

"I'm fine," Jaemin assures, walking to the kitchen himself.

Renjun and Chenle are too busy standing over a boiling pot to notice him, so he doesn't bother them as he makes his way around the familiar kitchen.

One thing he likes about Chenle's kitchen is the sheer variety. He has three different boxes of cookies to choose from, but he settles on the chocolate chip ones. He grabs one for Mark too, leaving the kitchen as quickly as he came in.

He pops back down onto the couch next to Mark, where the older boy has taken to reading his book again. Jaemin tucks his feet underneath him and leans his head onto Mark's shoulder, holding the cookie up to his mouth.

"Thanks," he mumbles, taking the whole thing in his mouth in one bite. "Feeling better?"

"Less itchy," he replies, picking his phone back up. He doesn't have any more interest in playing though, so he just fiddles around with it. "Thanks for reminding me."

His fingers subconsciously go down to his waist, running over the pump attached to the waistband of his pants. It's relatively small, and the patches don't tickle his skin anymore. They used to, when he was getting accustomed to having something constantly against his sides, pumping insuline into his body, but now he barely even registers that it's there most of the time.

"You know you have to remember these things on your own," Mark chastises, earning an eye roll from the younger. "I'm serious, you could've scratched your skin raw or something."

"You're a worry wart,"

"I worry about you," Mark admits, closing his book again. "You need to start taking care of yourself."

"I take care of myself plenty," Jaemin counters.

"Your mom sends fruits to your room everyday, and if it isn't me stopping you from scratching your arms, it's Jeno," Mark deadpans, raising a challenging eyebrow.

"What's your point?"

"My point is that I'm not gonna be here all the time. You're not even coming to my university, and even though Jeno and Donghyuck are staying here, you can't rely on them."

"Are you done?" Jaemin sighs, used to this conversation. He's heard it way too many times to not be tired of it.

"Since you asked, no," Mark states, sitting up straighter and starting to list things off on his fingers. "Make sure you have snacks with you all the time, you never know when your next meal will be. Pay more mind when your arms or legs start itching, and don't let your blood sugar go past five. Mentioning that, always keep your blood sugar tester with—"

Jeno and Jisung turn around from where they were not so subtly eavesdropping on Mark and Jaemin's conversation, only to both immediately shriek at the sight of Jaemin's lips on Mark's.

"Shut up," Jaemin mutters when he pulls away, resting his head back on Mark's shoulder. "You talk too much."

Before Mark can say anything, Jeno cuts in with,

"What the fuck?" Jaemin doesn't so much as throw him a glance, closing his eyes. "Did you just kiss?"

"And what about it?" Jaemin spits before Mark can get a word out. "Mark needed to shut up. Kisses are effective."

"Should I start doing that?" Jisung mumbles, immediately getting hit on the arm by Jeno.

"No! Kisses are for people you like," Jeno tsks.

Jaemin shrugs, unbothered by the uproar he's caused around him.

"Not always. Who says you can't kiss your friends on the lips?"

Jeno opens his mouth to counter Jaemin, until he closes it again in realization that no one has ever said that you can't kiss your friends on the lips.

So, he settles on glaring at Jaemin, coincidentally, just as the latter opens his eyes.

"Exactly. No one. Kisses don't have to be romantic," Jaemin justifies, satisfied. He cocks his head to the side, putting on that infuriating smirk which only comes out when he wants to annoy people. "Why? You want one, Nono?"

"Fuck you," Jeno spits.

"Who's talking about kissing Jeno?" Donghyuck mumbles, rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he stretches out on the other couch. How he managed to sleep through Jeno and Jisung's intense gaming, Jaemin has no idea.

"Jaemin hyung," Jisung answers turning back to the television, already losing interest in the conversation. Jaemin wonders if his attention span was ever that small, but doesn't think too much about it when a pillow comes flying at his face.

"No," Donghyuck simply glares, earning a spluttering Jaemin in return.

"I wasn't going to," he assures, fake gagging at the mere prospect of having his mouth anywhere near Jeno's. Ew.

"Yeah, Jaemin only smooches Mark," Jeno scoffs, also turning back to the television, starting a new round with Jisung and leaving Jaemin to deal with Donghyuck's wrath.

"You do what now?" Donghyuck asks, shock painted all over his face. He raises an eyebrow, waiting for an answer, only to get an eyebrow raise in return. As a result, he looks over to Mark instead, only to see that he equally doesn't have an answer, simply staring down at his book with red cheeks.

Donghyuck's sick of them.

"Fine, don't answer," Donghyuck mumbles, getting off of the couch and heading towards the kitchen. Jaemin knows better than to assume he's on his way to help Chenle and Renjun, so he only prays that Donghyuck doesn't set the kitchen on fire.

When Donghyuck leaves, the living room is overtaken by the sounds from Jeno and Jisung's video game, as well as their yells and excitement. It's then, that Mark finally says something.

"Are you gonna keep doing that?"

Jaemin, knowing what he was talking about, only shrugs. He closes his eyes again and cuddles into Mark's arm.

"If I think you need to be quiet. Wake me up when food is done."

<>

It takes another week before Jisung and Donghyuck collectively gang up on everyone and stage an intervention.

"We're bored."

For once, they've all gathered in Jaemin's house, all cooped up in his bedroom. Jeno, as always, makes himself home on his spinning chair, Renjun sitting on one leg. Chenle, Donghyuck and Jisung have found themselves playing a board game which Jaemin didn't even know he owned, and Mark is where he normally is whenever he comes over; Jaemin's bed.

Jaemin himself had just come out of the bathroom from taking a quick shower after Jisung had spilled his juice all over him, but Jaemin couldn't get too mad at that. It's a long been established fact that Jaemin couldn't stay mad at Jisung for longer than minutes at a time.

"What's new?" Renjun snorts, just as Jaemin crosses the room to his bedside table, picking up his pump and patches. He goes to set it all up again, but Mark's hands catch his wrists before he can.

"Lemme do it," he mutters, raising up Jaemin's oversized t-shirt. It's nothing Mark hasn't seen before, so Jaemin doesn't have any shame in keeping his t-shirt up, standing in front of Mark while the older boy sets up his pump.

Jaemin doesn't need someone else to do it for him, but it is easier, so he appreciates it. Plus, Mark's the only one he could trust to set it up properly.

No offense to his other friends.

"Thanks," Jaemin sighs, flopping down into his bed right after. He hears Mark chuckle before the older boy scoots over and moves to one side of the bed instead of sitting in the middle. Jaemin shifts around until his head is rested on his pillow, one of his plushies tucked to his chest. "Anyway, what do you want us to do about your boredom?" He asks Donghyuck and Jisung. "Go chase ducks or something."

"Chase ducks?" Jisung mumbles to himself, head tilted in confusion. "Is there even a pond nearby—"

"We're not chasing ducks," Donghyuck cuts him off, glaring at Jisung. "I have an idea."

"Those are never good," Chenle snorts, narrowly dodging Donghyuck who lunges himself towards the younger boy.

Jaemin just watches, sighing.

"Anyway," Jeno pipes in, clearing his throat once Donghyuck and Chenle aren't brawling on the floor anymore. "What's your idea?"

"The beach," Donghyuck answers, a glint in his eyes that is gone as quick as it appeared when the room remains silent. "What?"

"The beach?" Mark deadpans from his spot behind Jaemin, sitting up against the headboard. "That's your idea?"

"What's wrong with the beach?" The other asks, offended by Mark's tone.

"It's summer dude," Chenle groans. "They're all packed."

"And Jaemin—" Mark starts, only to be cut off by the aforementioned boy turning around and glaring at him.

"'And Jaemin' nothing. We can go to the beach a few towns over. There's less people," he reasons, turning back to look at everyone else. "What do you think? If you want to go to the beach so bad."

"A beach is a beach anywhere, I'm fine with it," Donghyuck begs, looking around and pleadingly looking for everyone's approval. "Seriously guys? It'd be so fun! We could go for a day, or even stay overnight!" He convinces.

"Overnight?" Jisung asks, perking up at the idea. Jaemin thinks it's concerning, but lets it go. "Yeah, we should stay for a night."

"I knew I could trust you!" Donghyuck cheers, smothering Jisung in a tight hug. Then, he turns to Renjun and Jeno. "Come on, please? It'd be so fun," he says, using his puppy dog eyes which only ever work on Renjun and Jeno.

As Jaemin expected, the older two relent and nod their heads, emitting more squeals from Donghyuck as his two boyfriends get kisses on the cheek in gratitude. Then, he turns to Chenle, looking hopeful.

Chenle shrugs his shoulders.

"Jisung's mom won't let him stay overnight unless I'm there," he reasons.

"Awesome," Donghyuck smiles, lastly, turning to Mark. "Who's gonna make sure Jaemin's blood pressure doesn't sky rocket if you're not there?" He asks, exaggerating his question with a whiny tone and pout.

"Hey! I can take care of my own blood pressure!" Jaemin yells, offended. "I don't need a babysitter."

Despite that, Mark seems to be genuinely contemplating, if his lack of answer is anything to go by.

"Okay, I guess," Mark finally sighs, giving into Donghyuck, just like everyone else.

"Good, we need a driver anyway," Donghyuck smiles, pushing Jeno out of Jaemin's desk chair so that he could use the laptop and start looking at the details of their trip.

"You guys use me for my car," Mark sulks.

Renjun throws him an easy grin.

"Thanks for finally noticing."

Donghyuck spends the next three hours interrogating them all about what days they're free for the trip, as well as making everyone call their parents immediately so that he could start and finish planning today. It took a little more convincing for Jisung, but once his mom was made aware that Chenle would be by his side the entire time, she said okay.

Mark didn't really have to ask, but he did for the sentiment.

Once that was all settled, Donghyuck, Jisung and Mark had an argument about which town to drive to, and since Mark has to worry about driving the whole way he suggested the one that was closer. Obviously, Jisung and Donghyuck didn't agree with this, convincing Mark until he was too tired to continue arguing.

"You're the best!" Jisung smiles, and Mark glares at him.

They leave it at that, and then talk about accommodations.

"Jisung's mom will kill me if I don't have my eyes on him 24/7," Chenle says from the get go, but Renjun just looks at him, unimpressed.

"You don't have to keep using Jisung's mom as an excuse to want to spend more time with him," he tsks, earning Chenle spluttering around his words and Jisung turning red. "But fine, that's settled. Jeno, Donghyuck and I can stay in another room, so sorry Jaemin, you're stuck with Mark," Renjun says apologetically.

"What's wrong with me?" Mark exclaims, scoffing when Renjun shrugs and doesn't answer.

"Nothing's wrong with you, they just want their disgusting couple's alone time," Jaemin explains, scrunching his nose up in disgust. "Be glad you won't be with either of them, I'm truly a blessing," Jaemin insists.

"Shut up, you snore in your sleep," Mark bites back, having Jaemin kick him in the shin as response.

"You're mean," Jaemin pouts, turning around to face the other boy.

"Yeah, cause if I was mean I would help setup your pump," Mark snorts, rolling his eyes. There's no real malice behind his words, but Jaemin likes to pretend there is for dramatic effect.

"I don't ask you to," Jaemin says.

Mark rolls his eyes.

"What do you want, you big baby?"

When Mark sees Jaemin smirk, he regrets his decision.

"Kiss."

Mark should've seen it coming, so he guesses he fully stepped into this one.

"Jaemin—"

"Please?" Jaemin cuts off, scooting closer to Mark and batting his eyelashes, the way he used to do when they were kids and he wanted the last cupcake. "I'll be mad at you if you don't," he adds, making Mark sigh again.

"You're irritating," the older boy mumbles, nonetheless leaning in and pressing a short peck to Jaemin's lips.

"You love—"

"What the fuck was that?" Renjun and Chenle's twin shrieks pierce through the air, making Jaemin sigh.

He turns around to glare at them.

"Get over it."

<>

After a very organized itinerary, which Donghyuck takes immense pride in, Jaemin finds himself waiting on his front porch for Mark's car to come pick him up at 9:30am. He thinks it's too early to be awake at this time in the summer, but Donghyuck wouldn't budge on starting their day any later. 

Jaemin's just glad that he's the last one being picked up, which gave him more time to sleep compared to other's.

Mark's car pulls up five minutes later, and Jaemin sighs when he can already hear how loud everyone else is being inside. He's glad he's not the one driving, he wouldn't even trust himself to drive in these conditions.

Surprisingly, the passenger's seat was still unoccupied, which leaves Jaemin confused. Normally, everyone would be fighting over who gets to sit up front, but it doesn't seem like the case today. Jaemin doesn't mind too much, and tosses his backpack into the trunk without complaint.

"Good morning," Mark grunts when he steps into the car, putting on his seatbelt. The air conditioning is on full blast, and Jaemin appreciates it since it's sweltering hot outside today.

"Well don't you sound cheery," Jaemin scoffs. "How come I wasn't shoved to the back like usual today?"

Mark grunts again, he had to get up earliest amongst them all, so Jaemin sympathizes, before pulling out of Jaemin's driveway and looking at the map direction on his GPS screen.

"Chenle wanted to sit with Jisung so we threw them at the back with all the snacks— there's chips, candy and sodas by the way, water and iced coffee bottles too if you don't want soda. Renjun brought his cooler— but anyway, Jeno, Donghyuck and Renjun are attached at the hip, so I'm afraid you're stuck with me today," Mark explains, sending Jaemin a small quirked up smile before looking back onto the road.

Jaemin only hums, turning back briefly to see their arrangement for himself.

Chenle and Jisung are sitting in the very back row, heads pushed together and sharing earbuds as they watch something on Chenle's phone. There's a pile of snack bags beside them, but Jaemin doesn't trust them to not devour everything themselves. He supposes they'd have to make another stop halfway through their drive.

In the row in front of the two youngest, Jeno sits between Donghyuck and Renjun, all three of them talking about something Jaemin wasn't too interested in listening in on.

"So, how far is it?" Jaemin asks Mark.

"Donghyuck chose a beach three fucking hours from here," Mark sighs, clearly irritated by the fact. Jaemin only rolls his eyes. It's such a Donghyuck thing to do, considering how he isn't the one driving.

"That's okay. Halfway through when we spot a McDonald's, I'll buy you a smoothie," Jaemin promises, patting Mark's thigh in comfort. He couldn't imagine being his position. "Jisung-ah, pass a coffee!" Jaemin says, turning around in his seat to face the back.

Jaemin's surprised his voice carries through Renjun, Donghyuck and Jeno's conversation, and through whatever Chenle and Jisung were watching on the phone. He doesn't complain though, when he sees Jisung start searching through the cooler.

"Do you want anything?" Jaemin asks Mark, who only shakes his head. 

"I'm gonna take a few sips from you, I already ate breakfast. Did you?"

Jaemin knows Mark won't be happy with his answer, but he settles on being honest either way.

"Nope," he says casually, just so that maybe Mark doesn't pick up on what he says.

But at this point, he knows Mark better than that.

"You're the worst," he groans, looking into the rearview mirror. "Jisung, pass Jaemin a granola bar too."

Jaemin wrinkles his nose, accepting the two things passed to him by Donghyuck, who retrieved them from Jisung.

"Who the hell brings granola bars as snacks?" Jaemin asks, shaking the coffee first before opening it. He gulps down around half of the bottle before holding it up to Mark, who looks unamused as he takes in how much is left. Nonetheless, he only takes a small sip before giving it back.

"I do, because everything they chose for snacks is just plain sugar," the older boy justifies.

"I like sugar—"

"Moderation, Jaem. And remember to keep your blood pressure in check."

Jaemin clicks his tongue at the mention of his blood pressure, tearing into the granola bar. He admits that it wouldn't be his first choice of breakfast, but he's grateful it's there at least.

"Speaking of blood pressure, did you bring your blood sugar measurer? I can turn back if you didn't—"

"Oh my God, yes I have it with me," Jaemin groans, cutting off Mark's rambling.

"Just making sure,"

"Shut up and drive."

So that's what Mark does for the next hour, occasionally asking Jaemin to open his water bottle. Thankfully, Renjun and Donghyuck have knocked out on both of Jeno's shoulders, and Jisung and Chenle are now the ones having a hushed conversation. Jaemin is thankful for the relative silence, occasionally conversing with Mark and Jeno, but mainly letting the radio play.

He contemplates whether he should take a nap too, but decides against it when he sees a McDonald's sign on the highway.

"I'll buy a smoothie," Jaemin says out of nowhere, earning a confused sound from Mark. "If you go to the McDonald's. I'll buy you your smoothie."

That's enough motivation seeing as Mark switches to the right most lane so that he can fork off of the highway and into the local road.

"Hm? Where are we going?" Chenle pipes up from the back, mindful enough to keep his voice relatively normal since Donghyuck and Renjun are still sleeping.

"Jaemin's buying Mark a smoothie from McDonald's. Do you guys want anything?" Jeno says, craning his neck a bit to look at the younger two.

"Fries," Chenle answers. "Jisung wants nuggets." Then, he reaches into his pocket to pull his wallet out, giving his card to Jeno. "You can buy whatever you want too."

"I love rich people," Jeno mumbles, looking at Chenle's credit card lovingly.

Jaemin thinks he's weird, but takes out his own money instead of dwelling on it.

When they've arrived in the parking lot, Jaemin unbuckles his seatbelt. He can see Mark look confused and open his mouth from his peripheral, but he speaks before Mark can.

"Paying with two cards through the drive thru is a pain. I'll order inside and you take them through, okay?"

"Are you sure? Jisung can go with—"

"Jisung is in the very back, and goon number one and two are still sleeping. Yes, I'm sure, stop worrying,"

With that, Jaemin leaves the car and walks into the restaurant, standing in the short line. It's not a complicated feat, ordering and paying, and thankfully the drive thru line was short too. As Jaemin walks out of the restaurant, Mark's car pulls up to the parking lot.

"My compensation for your kindness," Jaemin says graciously, sarcastically, handing Mark his smoothie. The car smells of fries and the constant sound of paper bags rustling is irritating, but Jaemin should've seen this coming.

"I got you hash browns," Mark says in return, putting a paper bag in Jaemin's lap. "There's five."

Jaemin hadn't asked for them, but he's grateful because he loves hash browns. When he turns around to the back, he sees everyone already digging in, Donghyuck and Renjun now awake.

"Thank you," he tells Mark, leaning over the center console and pressing a peck to his lips. When he pulls away he ignores the way he can't hear paper bags rustling anymore, or the way Mark sighs and shakes his head as he puts on his seatbelt.

He does, however, hear Donghyuck sigh and say,

"Oh, what the fuck."

<>

It's with great content that Mark announces they've arrived.

Jaemin doesn't know if it could be classified as a resort that Donghyuck has picked for them, seeing as it wasn't that fancy. But this beach is also somewhat of a tourist spot, so it's no wonder the accommodations are also nice.

"Say it. Tell me I did well planning this," Donghyuck demands, holding his chin up high and expectant.

Jaemin rolls his eyes, but decides to indulge the other.

"Good job Donghyuck, what we would've done if not for your presence," he praises, earning a elbow in the ribs from Donghyuck.

With ease, Donghyuck leads them to the concierge desk, Jaemin truly thinks Donghyuck chose a good spot since there's a concierge desk, and gathers three room keys before turning to them.

"Third floor, all the rooms are beside each other," he announces, handing Jisung one key and Jaemin another. "It's only a bit past noon, so we could go for lunch in an hour or so?" He suggests, earning hums in agreement and affirmation. "Great, meet in the lobby."

Mark gratefully makes his way up to their room, Jaemin following close behind since he has the key. He couldn't imagine how tired Mark must be, waking up early in the morning and driving three hours with literal monkeys in the car with him, so he decides to be less of a headache and quietly let them into their room.

It's a small but nice place, two twin beds and a desk in the room. There's a microwave and a little fridge too, and the bathroom is white and and tidy.

Jaemin thinks it's cozy.

"I'm gonna take a nap, wake me up when it's time to go and eat," Mark announces, tossing his bag onto the ground at throwing himself in bed. He immediately melts into the sheets, and Jaemin takes pity on him.

"Sure, I'm gonna get some snacks for our room from Chenle and Jisung," Jaemin says, getting a tired hum from Mark, but that's it. "I know you're gonna sleep but don't leave the room unless I come back. I have the key."

Jaemin doesn't get an answer or anything in affirmation back, so he simply hopes for the best as he leaves for Chenle and Jisung's room.

As he expected before even knocking on their door, Chenle and Jisung have managed to already make a mess of their room. Chenle has changed into different clothes, leading to the contents of his backpack being strewn everywhere. Jisung isn't any better, searching for something in his bag, which in turn means tossing everything aside.

"I had a feeling you'd come here," Jisung says, handing Jaemin a bag before he can do anything more than sigh. "These are candies and coffees and chips. Some water too," he says, thrusting the bag into Jaemin's arms. "That's what you came for, right?"

Jaemin nods, already reaching into the bag to take out a bottle of iced coffee. He twists the cap open and is about to take a sip when Chenle asks him,

"Why do you kiss Mark hyung?"

Jaemin brings the coffee down from his lips, sighing.

Not this again.

"Haven't you kissed Jisung? What's the big deal?" Jaemin asks, raising an eyebrow challengingly. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Jisung's cheeks darken, but ignores it when Chenle rolls his eyes.

"I've kissed Jisung once, you keep on kissing Mark," Chenle says, leaning against the wall as he waits for Jaemin's answer.

Admittedly, it's weak.

"So?" He asks, scoffing. "It doesn't mean anything."

"Hyung," Chenle groans, stomping his foot lightly in frustration. "You don't keep kissing someone you don't like."

Jaemin wants to argue, but then Chenle adds,

"So do you like Mark hyung or not?"

Jaemin's throat dries up, taken aback by the question.

He never thought of it. He didn't think he'd ever need to think of it. Sure, Mark has been the only constant presence in his life and has been by his side through everything, but that doesn't mean Jaemin likes him, right?

So what if when Mark would come over from forty minutes away just because Jaemin called, he feels warm?

So what if he feels special when Mark worries about his blood pressure and is always thinking about his well being?

So what if his heart feels erratic whenever they kiss?

That doesn't mean anything... Does it?

"You're thinking about it," Chenle sighs, breaking him out of his reveries. "That doesn't mean you don't."

"Shut up," Jaemin grumbles, taking his bag and gripping it. "I'm going to leave and you're going to keep your mouth shut."

Chenle puts his hands up in surrender, but doesn't do a good job in hiding his smirk. In a fit of pettiness, Jaemin glares at him.

"I could say the same about you and him," Jaemin says lowly, cocking his head towards Jisung. Thankfully, he's quiet enough to the point where Jisung doesn't hear him, and he knows he hit a soft spot when the smirk disappears off of Chenle's face.

Before the younger can say anything though, Jaemin leaves the room, going back to his own. He puts the snacks on the desk, arranging them in a way where all the options visible. He puts the coffee and water bottles in the mini fridge, sitting down on his bed right after, with one bottle of coffee in his hands.

Mark is already fast asleep, hugging the pillow which would normally be under his head to his chest. He doesn't snore, but he does have his eyebrows furrowed. Jaemin knows better than to assume they're furrowed because he isn't comfortable, knowing it's just a quirk of his.

Jaemin sighs, placing his coffee bottle on the bedside table and and laying down on his side. He's facing Mark, face hard in concentration.

Mark brings him coffee when he comes over unannounced.

Mark helped him study for finals over hours of video calls.

Mark constantly reminds him to eat so that he doesn't faint out of nowhere.

Jaemin purses his lips.

Does he like Mark?

His brain starts throwing hundreds of thoughts at him when he asks himself that question, so he wills himself to close his eyes after setting an alarm.

Even if he did like Mark, it didn't matter.

It's not like Mark likes him.

<>

It's Renjun who picks their lunch spot, but Jaemin can't help but think he got assistance from Donghyuck when choosing. He doesn't complain though, because it's a nice place with fresh cold noodles and really good soda.

It's a nice time, to be out and about with his friends, especially when Jeno laughs too hard and noodles come out of his nose, or when Jisung turned a shade of red so dark when Chenle wiped sauce off of the corner of his mouth that it had Jaemin concerned. It was especially nice when they had to manoeuvre through tables while following their waitress, and Mark has kept a protective hand over Jaemin's pump over his shirt so that it didn't bump into anything on the way.

Jaemin wills himself to just think of it as something any good friend would do, but he doesn't recall Renjun or Jisung ever doing this, or anyone else for that matter. He doesn't let himself think too much of it though, afraid of where his thoughts may transfer to.

"Mark hyung," Jeno calls, and everyone around the table seems to collectively catch onto his tone.

It's the one he uses when he wants something, and Jaemin doesn't remember Jeno doing this until after he's met Donghyuck. Jaemin would call Donghyuck a bad influence, but his tactics have lead them all to multiple adventures and memories, so he isn't all too bad.

"No," Mark immediately shakes his head, already having a bad feeling about where this could be going. Jaemin doesn't blame him, there's a glint in both Donghyuck and Renjun's eyes as well as Jeno's, and now it’s glaringly obvious that the former two have put Jeno up to this. "I don't know what you want but I'm telling you right now, no."

It hasn't even been a year since Mark has legally turned an adult, and Jaemin already lost count of how many times their friend group has used that to their advantage.

"Please," Renjun pipes in, uncharacteristically using the formality. "Just... Three bottles? It'll be fun..."

Mark's eyes widen in realization, and Jaemin would find it comical if he also didn't understand what Renjun and Jeno, and by extension, Donghyuck, are asking for.

"Are you guys crazy?" Jaemin hisses before Mark gets the chance to say something. He casts an eye to Chenle and Jisung, who are watching them all with wide and curious eyes, clearly oblivious what they're talking about. "It's fine when we're at home, but we could get in serious trouble here," he adds, hoping it knocks some sense into his three friends.

That's wishful thinking though, and he should've known better.

"But it won't be a problem if we're just in our rooms!" Donghyuck insists. "We don't even have to go with hyung to buy it, we'll just transfer him the money back."

Jaemin glares at him.

"And Chenle and Jisung?" He hisses, cocking a head in the youngest two direction, as if they weren't already listening.

Donghyuck looks like the devil himself when he smirks.

"No one has to know."

Jaemin purses his lips, not finding a flaw in Donghyuck's plan unless it was a moral flaw. It's true that it’s not like anyone will find out... But still, it didn't matter what he thought, the final decision was up to Mark. It was his bank account anyway.

Mark doesn't say anything, only looks at Jisung.

Jisung shrugs.

"My mom can't kill me if she doesn't find out," he grins.

Mark sighs, and Jaemin knows before the older boy even says it that he's lost to their desires, once again.

"Two bottles," he settles, silencing the protest on the tip of Jeno's tongue with a single look. "Because I don't need you guys drunk off of your wits, or to have any shenanigans under my name."

"Fine," Renjun huffs, sitting back in his chair, defeated.

Jeno and Donghyuck share a high five, clearly still feeling victorious. Chenle and Jisung whisper excitedly, as if they were being successful in hiding anything.

"You need to stop giving into peer pressure," Jaemin half jokes, poking Mark in the middle of his chest.

Mark only shrugs.

"It's small price to pay for a lot of memories and happy smiles," he explains, and oh, Jaemin has to will himself not to smile like a fool at Mark's words.

He's always known that Mark was a big sap, sentimental and always wanting to make people happy. They're similar in that way, but Mark is more reserved about it. Whenever Jaemin is reminded of just how much of a sweetheart he is, he swoons a little.

Maybe that's another thing he likes about Mark—

No.

Because he doesn't like Mark, does he?

"Greasy," Jaemin answers, wrinkling his nose.

The smile that Mark gives him makes him gulp.

"You love it,"

Jaemin doesn't know if he does, but he can see Chenle smirking out of his peripheral, so he doesn't push it. He only rolls his eyes, pretends like Mark's laugh doesn't make his heart flutter, and puts his slice of the payment in the middle of the table.

"Are we going swimming today?" Jisung asks once they've exited the retaurant. Donghyukc immediately has his arm around the younger's shoulders, exaggeratedly answering in a voice that draws way too much attention to their group.

"Of course!" He exclaims, looking at Jisung like he was crazy. "But in an hour or two. Cramps and shit," he continues, looking sleazy as he pats Jisung's cheek in assurance. "Don't worry, you'll get to see Chenle shirtless today, I promise."

Jaemin thinks Jisung doesn't know that other people can hear them, but he and Mark snicker about it anyway.

"When is Jisung gonna admit that they're more than friends?" Mark asks, snorting when he catches Jisung trying to hit Donghyuck for what he said. "Does he think he's fooling anyone?"

Jaemin only laughs, shaking his head.

"Chenle is the same. It's obvious to everyone except them," he sighs. "I went to their room after you fell asleep and said something about them and he looked like he wanted to hit me."

Now it's Mark who laughs.

"Typical,"

Renjun and Chenle suggest they should browse around the seaside shops, and since Jeno is a sucker for trinkets and Mark gets excited at the prospect of finding key chains, they find themselves walking towards the shops.

It's not too far, maybe a ten minute walk, but it's entertaining because Jisung cowers from any bird that makes it within a five meter radius of him, and Renjun is constantly stepping on Donghyuck's shoelaces.

His friends are completely irritating and unbearable, but it's times alone like this where Jaemin remembers why he decided to keep them for so long.

They're an interesting bunch.

That much is proven when Chenle insists on them all buying matching beaded friendship bracelets.

"They're so cute, look!" He exclaims, excitedly showing everyone the seven bracelets he's picked out. They all consist of the same beaded pattern, but the colour schemes were different depending on who it'd belong to. Jisung's was blue, Jeno's was red, Renjun's was orange, Donghyuck's was yellow, Chenle's was purple, Jaemin's was pink and Mark's was green. "A rainbow!" Chenle cheers, and he looks way too happy for anyone to deny him such a simple wish.

That's how they leave the third store they visit with matching bracelets, walking into a gift shop after.

"Nana, come here," Mark calls, drawing Jaemin's attention away from watching Jeno play with rings.

He makes it next to Mark, who has two key chains in his hand. They're both loaded with different aquatic charms; dolphins, starfish and waves, but there's two distinctive features about them. One of them has a large sunshine charm, and the other has an equally as large pale pink seashell.

"Which one do you want?"

Jaemin surveys over both options, preferring the seashell design.

"I like this one," he settles, pointing to the key chain of his choice.

"I had a feeling," Mark, smiling and heading to the cash. "It's yours."

Jaemin figures as much, but it still makes his heart swell. He wonders if his heart would've had the same reaction if not for Chenle's words a few hours ago, but decides not to think about it.

"I want to buy you something too," Jaemin insists once hes not thinking about how Mark's small gesture made him swoon.

He looks around, looking for something to catch his eye. It takes a while, but he finally spots a little photo booth.

He thinks it's perfect.

"C'mon," Jaemin says excitedly, grabbing Mark's wrist and pulling him in the direction of the photo booth.

When Jaemin pulls the curtain back, the space inside is barely big enough for the both of them, but he shoves Mark in first, so they make it work. Even if Jaemin is half sitting on the older boy's lap, it works and it makes for easier access when he pulls his wallet out and feeds the machine coins.

"Okay, five poses," he says, reading off of the screen. Mark beats him to selecting a filter, tapping on a vintage looking one. He also beats Jaemin to picking the photo strip's borders, settling on a simple black and white. "You're no fun," Jaemin pouts once all the options have been set.

"They'll be cute, trust me," Mark promises, wrapping one of his arms around Jaemin's waist so that the younger doesn't fall off. The space truly was confined, and the bench was barely enough for two people. "The countdown started!"

The first pose both Mark and Jaemin pull are simple peace signs by their eyes, followed by kissy faces as the next pose. The third one is simple smiles, and the fourth is a funny face. When the timer counts down for the fifth and final photo, Jaemin has run out of ideas for poses.

"What do we do for—" Jaemin speaks hurriedly, but he doesn't get to finish his question before Mark has a grip on his chin, turning his head and pulling him in close for a kiss.

Jaemin freezes because of the abrupt action, before he regains his senses and kisses him back. In the back of his mind, he knows that the timer for the photo has long since flashed and captured the picture, but Mark isn't pulling away, so he doesn't either. Instead, he brings one of his arms around Mark's shoulder, the other arm already there. Mark also slips his hands down from Jaemin's chin to hold him by the nape of his neck, tilting his head to the side and deepening his kiss.

Jaemin's only had someone's tongue inside his mouth once, but he still recognizes the feeling when Mark's tongue pokes at the seam of his lips. It's with a gasp that his lips part open. This time, Mark's tongue seems more comfortable in his mouth, almost as if it were familiar. Their tongues twist together, leaving Jaemin panting into the small room around them.

He doesn't know if it's just him, or if it actually did get hotter in the booth. When Mark pulls him closer, he also wonders if the older boy can feel how rapidly his heart is beating in his chest, how hot his cheeks are.

He doesn't get to think about it too much though, because suddenly, light floods through the previously dim photo booth.

"Found them! Where were— Jesus, what the fuck!"

Jaemin doesn't even have to turn around to know that it's Renjun who shrieks, jarringly at that, flustering Jaemin even further. He makes way to move off of Mark and out of the booth, ignoring all of their friends which have gathered at Renjun's yell.

He knows it's fruitless, but he still crouches down in front of where the photo strips are printed so that the other's wouldn't see how hot his face is. He knows they probably can, even more so when he looks over their pictures and catches sight of the last one, flushing red again all over.

He immediately hands one to Mark when he exits the photo booth, pretending that his heart doesn't beat so violently that it's concerning at the sight of him.

He also ignores the look Chenle gives him, knowing he wouldn't be able to control himself from smacking him.

"That's all you guys ever do, seriously," Jeno scoffs, earning a glare from Jaemin. "Why are you looking at me like that! Am I wrong?" He asks defensively, only to get no answer in return.

"Anyway, before we noticed that you two disappeared," Donghyuck starts, looking them both up and down. Jaemin shifts uncomfortably under the other's gaze. "We decided to head back now and meet up again to head into the water at 4:00. That okay with you two?"

Jaemin wordlessly nods and Mark only hums in agreement.

The walk back is equally as entertaining as the walk to the shops, except this time Jaemin's mind is too preoccupied with other things to completely focus on the way Renjun is chasing Jisung and the way Donghyuck is making Chenle give him a piggyback ride.

Instead, he's thinking about how warm Mark's fingers felt on his nape, how soft his lips felt against his own, and how comforting the closeness of their bodies felt.

"This one's cute," Mark's voice says, breaking Jaemin out of his thoughts. He's next to Jaemin again, pointing at the first picture in the sequence of five. "They all are, actually."

Jaemin agrees in his head, they're all cute, but does that mean Mark also think the last one is cute? The one where he had his tongue down his throat? He wonders, if Mark is thinking of the kiss like he is right now, if thoughts of their lips locking are plaguing his thoughts like they are Jaemin's.

"But this one's the cutest," he says, pointing to the last photo.

Jaemin doesn't know what to say, so he doesn't, and instead kicks Mark. Sometimes when he doesn't know how to express himself, he resorts to this. It's something he and Jeno have in common.

"Shut up," Jaemin mumbles, picking up his pace so that he didn't have to keep walking side by side with Mark.

The older boy doesn't let him do that though, throwing an arm around his shoulders and giving him a peck.

"Thanks for the pictures."

And with that, he jogs up to talk to Jeno, leaving Jaemin to think about why his heart feels like it might explode, with pink cheeks and key chain in his hand.

<>

Preparing to head down to the beach took a longer time than Jaemin would like to admit, consisting of him putting on an absurd amount of sunscreen and encouraging Mark to do the same. Granted, he resides in the bathroom under the excuse of fixing his hair, just so that he wouldn't have to see Mark shirtless as he smothers himself in sunscreen.

When Jaemin comes out, Mark is in the middle of putting his shirt on, and he catches a glimpse of his abs before he pull his eyes away. Mark may see Jaemin's stomach often, because of how often he helps him with setting up his pump and patches, but that doesn't mean he gets to see Mark's stomach often.

He wonders when the older boy had acquired abs.

He's in the midst of asking himself if he worked out regularly when he was still at university, but is forced to push those thoughts aside when Mark asks him something.

"Eat something before we head down," he urges, holding a bag of chips and water bottle towards the younger. "You won't be having your pump on you for a while."

Mark's right about that, seeing as he can't get his pump wet. It's risky to wear it to the beach, and he's already taken it off. It sits on his bedside table, where he intends to leave it until nighttime.

"Thanks," Jaemin sighs, sitting down on his bed with the snacks Mark gave him. "Do you know what we're having for dinner?"

Mark is fiddling with his glasses, cleaning them on his t-shirt before he answers. He puts them back on his face, and Jaemin is reminded of how painfully adorable the older boy is.

"Not sure," Mark admits. "But Chenle was asking if sushi was an option earlier."

Jaemin only hums, opening up the bag of classic flavoured chips and eating.

It's quiet, with Mark surfing through his phone and Jaemin just eating, until frantic knocks come on their door. Jaemin looks at Mark confusedly, getting a look that's equally as confused. Nonetheless, the older boy gets up to open the door, and a frantic Jisung walks into their room without any other warning.

"Ji—"

"What if he really does take off his shirt?" Jisung blurts before Mark can finish calling his name, rendering the whole room silent.

"What?" Jaemin splutters, putting his chips down so that he isn't at a choking hazard.

"What if Chenle takes his shirt off at the beach?" Jisung groans, flopping down face first onto Mark's bed. He seems genuinely distressed over it, so Jaemin decides to bite back his tongue as he thinks about what to say.

"Well," he starts, clearing his throat. "Why does it matter if you see him shirtless?"

Jisung makes a confused sound, almost as if he's taken aback by the question. He lifts his head up and look at Jaemin with his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Because I don't see him with his shirt off?" He says like it's the most obvious thing ever.

"Aren't you best friends? Mark sees me without a shirt on all the time," Jaemin says, this time being the one who's confused.

Jisung rolls his eyes at the revelation.

"Well of course he has, you guys are different," Jisung scoffs, sitting back up. He looks between the two of them, Jaemin sitting on his bed and Mark leaning against the wall. "You guys are more than friends."

Jaemin chokes on air, he sees that putting the chips away didn't really save him from a choking hazard, and makes brief eye contact with Mark, only to find that he's turned a dark shade of red.

"Well what's the problem with seeing Chenle shirtless?" Mark asks once he's calmed down a bit. "You like him, so why not?"

"I don't like him!" Jisung immediately denies, earning a heavy sigh from Jaemin and a deadpan look from Mark.

"Right," the oldest plays off. "But it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Just make sure he doesn't catch you staring."

Jisung groans again, pushing himself off of Mark's bed and glaring at the both of them.

"You guys suck at advice. The only things you're probably good at is sucking face," he says, and promptly leaves before Mark or Jaemin could fire back.

"Brat," Jaemin mutters once he's gone, picking his chips back up.

"Finish eating, we're due to meet soon," Mark sighs, picking up a beach bag he had set aside.

"You're like a dad," Jaemin says, popping the last chip into his mouth and standing up. He dusts his hands off on his shorts, drinking half the water bottle before grabbing his sunglasses. "Who carries a beach bag anymore?"

"There's important stuff in it!" Mark argues, looking offended that Jaemin thinks his beach bag is unnecessary. "Water, more sunscreen, towels, an extra change of clothes, all that important shit."

Jaemin hums, uninterested, and slips into his flip flops. He opens the door for Mark, who exits and closes the door behind him.

"Don't lose this," Jaemin says, putting the keycard to their room in one of the pockets of the beach bag. "We're stranded if you lose this."

"So now you like the beach bag," Mark scoffs, earning an elbow in the ribs from Jaemin.

They make their way to the lobby in silence, seeing Donghyuck, Renjun and Jeno already there waiting. They're decked out similarly to Jaemin, swimming trunks on their hips and t-shirts on their torsos. Jaemin knows that Jeno's will eventually comes off, and makes a mental note to avoid being near him when it does. He doesn't want front row tickets of Renjun and Donghyuck ogling their boyfriend.

"Jaemin, where'd you get your sunglasses?" Renjun asks, delightful smile on his face. "They're so cute."

"Thanks. I don't remember, I think they might've been a gift," he mumbles, taking them off just to look at them, thinking it'll wrack his memory. "Hm, sorry. I don't remember."

Renjun's about to say something else, but before he can, loud shrieks pierce through the lobby.

Everyone's heads turn to the sound, not surprised but slightly embarrassed when they see Chenle chasing Jisung out of the elevator.

"Chenle! Stop that, don't—" And then he's cut off with a groan as Chenle grabs his cheeks, looking like he's rubbing them.

Jaemin throws Mark a confused glance before clearing his throat.

"What're you doing?" He asks them, to which Jisung sighs defeatedly and Chenle smiles happily.

"Jisungie didn't put sunscreen on his face," Chenle explains, patting the younger's cheeks when he's done. "He's would've looked like a lobster if I didn't chase him with sunscreen."

"I would've been fine!" Jisung insists, cheeks now looking glazed. Also red, but that was something else.

"No you wouldn't have," Renjun sighs, patting Jisung on the shoulder. "Be grateful one half of your duo has braincells."

"I'm smart," Jisung whines. "I'm on the honour roll."

"It's not hard to get on the honour roll," Jeno chuckles, swiftly dodging Jisung trying to jump on him.

The entire way to the beach, Jeno and Jisung are bickering, while Renjun and Chenle seem to be having a deep conversation in Mandarin.

This leaves Donghyuck to tag along with him and Mark, and Jaemin already feels a headache forming.

"So," Donghyuck sing songs, walking between him and Mark and putting his arms around both their shoulders. "How was your make out?"

Jaemin immediately flushes red, trying to get free of Donghyuck's hold, but the older boy doesn't let him, keeping his grip firm.

"What? Embarrassed?" He taunts.

"No!" Jaemin immediately denies, glaring at Donghyuck. He knows that somewhere inside, Donghyuck is extremely satisfied with himself, and Jaemin kind of wants to kick him. "Fuck off."

"What? Markie's not a good kisser?" He pouts exaggeratedly. "That sucks."

Jaemin admires how level headed Mark can be in these types of situations, seeing as the older boy simply sighs.

"Donghyuck—"

But something Jaemin doesn't admire is how he doesn't really argue these types of things. And he isn't even a bad kisser! Donghyuck shouldn't go around telling lies, he's a pretty good kisser if Jaemin's being honest. Even if Jaemin's only kissed one person.

"Yes he is," Jaemin defends, mentally kicking himself for letting his mouth speak before he could run it through his mind. He's already in, so he deems that there's nothing to lose. "Probably better than Renjun."

Donghyuck huffs.

"No one's better than Renjun," he mumbles, scoffing when Jaemin raises an eyebrow. "Shut up."

Donghyuck leaves them alone after that, unsurprisingly heading to Renjun.

"You think I'm a good kisser?" Mark asks quietly after some time, not looking at Jaemin, but looking ahead instead.

Jaemin really wishes he didn't open his mouth without filtering his words.

"Yeah," he replies, also looking straight. He can feel Mark's eyes when he turns to look at him, but ignores it in favour of continuing to walk.

Mark doesn't say anything either, so Jaemin decides to get rid of whatever tension washed over them by pointing out random things he sees. It works, because now they're giggling at a little girl who's chasing after a bird.

Once they've found a spot to settle on the sand, Jeno picks up Renjun over his shoulder and brings him to the water despite the smaller's protests. Seeing this, Donghyuck inspired to do the same with Mark, with the latter yelling every two seconds to no avail.

Jaemin sighs at their shenanigans, and Jisung chasing after them, before setting up the towel that Mark has been in the midst of setting up. Once he's done, he sits down, only to have Chenle join him.

"Thanks for harassing him about the sunscreen," Jaemin sighs, looking out into the water. "His mom would've killed us if he came home with a sunburn."

"That's what I told him," Chenle snorts, following Jaemin's gaze out into the water.

Donghyuck was right choosing the farther beach, there's not a lot of people here. It makes for a more enjoyable time, and it also makes the wind blow cooler. By now, everyone is completely soaked in the water, and Jaemin feels a small smile tug on his lips at their laughs they let out, loud and unabashed.

"You're right, by the way,"

Turning his head to look at Chenle through his rose tinted sunglasses, Jaemin tilts his head to the side.

"Hm?"

"About me liking Jisung,"

Chenle says it so casually that Jaemin does a double take, surprised at how easily he says so. Chenle, along with Jisung, have been vehemently denying having any romantic feelings towards the other for the past few months, so Jaemin didn't expect him to come around any time soon. He's glad Chenle can tell him this though.

"It was pretty obvious," Jaemin agrees. He leans back on his arms, looking back at the water. "Does Jisung know?"

"I haven't told him yet," Chenle answers. "The only reason I'm telling you is because we're kind of in the same situation."

Jaemin furrows his eyebrows at this, but doesn't say anything in favour of letting Chenle continue talking.

"Jisung asked me to kiss him to know what it feels like," he starts, and out of the corner of his eye, Jaemin sees a smile twitch onto Chenle's lips. "I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't like him."

Jaemin closes his eyes, internally sighing. Since this morning, Chenle has been making him second guess his relationship with Mark, and this isn't helping at all.

"He also wouldn't have asked if he didn't like me,"

Jaemin's head whips around to Chenle at that, squinting his eyes.

"You know Jisung likes you?" He asks.

"He's obvious about it," Chenle shrugs. "But I'll let him tell me when he's ready. For now, it's enough to just know."

Jaemin mulls over the words.

It's not like he knows for sure that Mark likes him. And before this morning he wasn't even sure if he liked Mark that way.

Or maybe it was just something that's been bubbling for the past months, years even, with Jaemin only acknowledging it now.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I'm not gonna spell it out for you. Just think about it," Chenle says nonchalantly.

Think about it.

Jaemin's afraid of what conclusions he'll come to if he thinks about it.

<>

Jaemin only steps into the water once Mark, Jisung and Donghyuck have stepped out, deeming it safe since Donghyuck has left.

"Oh look, Mr. Mark kisser," Renjun announces when he arrives.

Jaemin sticks his tongue out at him.

"I have a name," he says, splashing Renjun with water. "And do other things that aren't kiss Mark."

"Was he your first kiss?" Jeno asks, blatantly ignoring what he just said.

"Yeah," he easily replies nonetheless, walking deeper into the water, until it reaches halfway through his torso. Renjun and Jeno follow.

"When?" Jeno asks again, seeming awfully interested.

Jaemin snorts.

"I asked for a kiss as my graduation gift,"

Renjun breaks down down laughing, and Jeno dunks Jaemin’s head underwater.

"That's so typical of you," Jeno sighs. "Why aren't I surprised?"

Jaemin shrugs, brushing his wet hair out of his face.

"We just kiss whenever now," Jaemin thinks out loud, catching the look exchanged between Jeno and Renjun. "What?"

"Are you sure you don't like him?" Renjun asks.

When Jaemin doesn't answer for a few seconds, Jeno and Renjun break into twin smiles. Jaemin thinks it's kinda creepy, but he shouldn't have expected anything less of Jeno and Renjun.

"You should tell him,"

Jaemin still doesn't say anything, so Renjun only pats his shoulder supportively, almost like a silent message, and they let it go.

The next forty minutes or so are filled with Jaemin getting an absurd amount of water in his ears, and Jeno carrying him on his shoulders until Jaemin has to pull his hair to get him to put him down.

The three of them are extremely wrinkled as they make their way back to shore, sand between their toes and water dripping from their clothes and hair with every step they take.

Once they've made it back to where the rest of their friends are sprawled across towels and blankets, Donghyuck immediately runs away when he sees Renjun and Jeno start throwing their wet bodies at him.

Jaemin is grateful Mark hands him a towel, patting the spot down next to him.

"You were in the water for a long time," Mark points out, using a smaller towel to dry Jaemin's hair for him. "Did you wear your flip flops into the water?"

Jaemin rolls his eyes despite Mark not being to see him.

"Yes dad," he sighs, fingers subconsciously going to scratch at his leg.

Mark doesn't notice for the longest time, the two of them simply sitting in silence as he continues to dry Jaemin's hair. The bigger towel is around Jaemin's shoulders, absorbing the water from his clothes.

When Mark puts the towel down, his hand catches Jaemin's wrist.

"You've been without your pump for too long," Mark mutters, turning Jaemin around until they're sitting face to face. "Quickly, take your shirt and pants off."

"Hm?"

"Your clothes are wet. I can't put the pump back on your if you're wet."

It's then that Jaemin sees Mark pull out his pump that he vividly remembers placing on his bedside table, as well as an extra t-shirt and pair of shorts.

For some reason, his heart stutters.

"You brought my stuff?" Jaemin mumbles, using the towel that was wrapped around his shoulders to wrap around his waist. He stands up, albeit on slightly wobbly legs, and strips down his wet clothes from under the towel. "I thought I left it in the room."

Mark only sighs, bringing a plastic bag out that's filled with Mark's wet clothes, and putting Jaemin's in it too.

"I just wanted to be prepared in case something happened," he says. He looks back at Jaemin, frowning. "And something happened."

Jaemin changes shorts quickly, and tosses his shirt back off as he sits down. He towels his skin dry, and then Mark is sitting extremely close to him while setting up his pump and patches.

Mark had done this more times than Jaemin can count on his fingers, but this time, when he feels Mark's fingertips dance across his skin, goosebumps raise on his arms. This time when he feels Mark's breath on his neck, his own breathing stops.

"There you go," Mark announces when he's done, turning around to grab Jaemin's shirt.

When he hands it to him though, Jaemin forgets about grabbing it and leans in to kiss Mark instead.

The older boy makes a pleasantly surprised sound in the back of his throat, but wastes no time in kissing him back.

When Mark's hand finds its way onto his waist, he's acutely reminded of the fact that he's still shirtless.

And that he needs to eat.

"I need to eat something," Jaemin mumbles when they pull apart, lips still touching Mark's whenever he speaks because of their proximity.

"Of course," Mark mumbles back, pressing a short peck to his lips before digging around his beach bag again. In the meantime, Jaemin puts on his shirt, and gratefully accepts the bag of dried mango slices Mark hands him.

Mark let's Jaemin lean his head on his shoulder as Chenle convinces everyone to order sushi, to which they all finally relent.

"Hyung, you can buy the drinks while Chenle and Donghyuck buy the sushi," Renjun suggests, more like tells, Mark.

As always, Mark gives him, and the three of them start packing things up, seeing as there's a sushi place and a liquor store a fifteen minute walk from the beach.

Jaemin, Jisung, Jeno and Renjun make their way back to the accommodation they're staying at, deciding to wait for everyone in Renjun, Donghyuck and Jeno's room.

Jeno takes a shower when they first enter, and Jaemin simply deposits himself onto the bed, hugging a pillow to his chest. He's laying on his side when he suddenly feels a finger tracing across his shoulder blades, causing him to flinch.

"This is Mark hyung's shirt," Jisung points out. "It says 'Lee' on the back."

Jaemin looks down at the front of the shirt and sees Mark's university emblem on it, deeming Jisung as correct.

And then, in a way he hopes is subtle, he sniffs the sleeve of the long sleeve t-shirt, warmth flooding his body when he catches the familiar and trademark scent of lemons and blackberries.

Mark's scent.

"Creep," Jisung snorts.

Probably not subtle enough.

"Shut up,"

Renjun and Jisung pick up on a conversation until Jeno comes out of the bathroom, and then Jeno replaces Renjun as the latter goes to shower. Jaemin stays laying down in his spot on the bed, hands tucked under his head so that he could constantly waft the scent from Mark's shirt.

Jisung may throw him a few weird looks, but he knows Jisung's biggest, darkest secret thank to Chenle, so he doesn't mind too much.

"Were you scratching," Jeno asks after a few minutes, startling Jaemin with the abrupt question. He looks at where Jeno is poking his finger, a spot right below his knee, and nods his head with a hum. "And Mark gave you food?"

Jaemin doesn't know where Jeno is going with this, so he only nods his head and squints his eyes.

"He cares about you. A lot,"

Jaemin sighs, jerking his leg away from Jeno and curling more in on himself, as if that'd make Jisung and Jeno stop staring holes into him.

"He always has," Jaemin argues. "Nothing's changed."

Surprisingly, it's Jisung who says,

"Maybe that just means he's always liked you."

And then, before Jaemin can have the time to lose his breath over the words, the silence of the room is interrupted by rapid and loud knocking.

Renjun is the one who answers it, fresh out of the shower. Donghyuck, Chenle and Mark all enter in a way louder fashion than necessary, placing food and alcohol on the desk in their room.

"I think I owe Chenle my life," Donghyuck sighs, catching the aforementioned boy in a tight hug. "Seriously, why do I owe all of the luxuries in my life to you?"

Chenle only snickers, but indulges Donghyuck by patting his back twice before letting go. Then it's a mess of handing out plates and chopsticks, choosing from the three huge trays of sushi and settling somewhere to eat.

Jaemin is picky when it comes to his sushi, only choosing rolls which have cucumbers in them and passing on the eel. His plate mainly consists of tuna, the occasional yellow tale and salmon thrown in here and there.

Mark is opposite, just takes whatever he can find. Jaemin kind of wishes he was like that, it's hard being so selective.

Either way, once everyone is settled and digging into dinner, Mark passes around cups and clears his throat.

"Right so," he starts, swallowing his mouthful before continuing. "Two bottles equate to a lot if you drink the way you're supposed to, but knowing you idiots, you're going to fill the cup up each time," he sighs, placing the two large bottles of beer he bought in the middle of all of them. "So my only word of advice is to not drink too quickly. You will die tomorrow morning, I promise you."

It doesn't seem like anyone was listening to Mark's words of wisdom, seeing Jeno and Donghyuck are busying themselves with trying to open one of the bottles, and Chenle, Renjun and Jisung are discussing the food.

"You have a bottle opener, don't you?" Jaemin asks Mark, after noticing that Jeno and Donghyuck have been struggling for the last seven minutes. It's expected though, Jaemin doesn't think Donghyuck's ever opened a beer bottle a day in his life.

"Yeah,"

"But you won't give it to them because you like watching them be dumb," Jaemin finishes for him, earning a grin in return from the older boy.

"Exactly."

Jaemin sighs, amused by Mark's antics. He's taking more pieces of tuna sushi from the large platter when Mark starts to talk again.

"The one that they're fiddling with is more malty than anything else. The other one is dark and... Roasty, I guess?" He shrugs. "Take your pick."

"Did you drink a lot?" Jaemin asks, facing Mark curiously. Sure, he's heard many snippets of Mark's first year of university, but not a lot about wild parties and all of that.

"Yeah," Mark snorts. "I met a guy, his name is Jaehyun, and he's... A wine fanatic, I guess. His roommate is equally as obsessed with wine, his name is Johnny, and I've gotten wine drunk with them more times than I can count," he recounts, setting his empty plate and chopsticks down. "But I met a different dude one day at the student center. His name is Yuta, and he's the one who likes beer."

Jaemin hums, also putting down his empty plate. He fiddles with the cup next to him, debating how much he should fill it up for his first drink.

"So Yuta's to blame for your beer knowledge?"

"Not blame, per se. It's like free education," Mark shrugs, finally sighing and tossing Donghyuck his car keys. "There's a bottle opener on it." He explains when Donghyuck throws him a confused glance.

"And you didn't tell us sooner?" Jeno barks exasperatedly.

"It's fun seeing you be dumb,"

Mark escapes Jeno's wrath by a hair, catching his keys when Donghyuck throws them back. He then opens the second bottle of beer, and Jaemin has to tell his brain to stop thinking it's hot.

Even if it is.

Because it's the hottest thing he's ever seen Mark do.

Jaemin wonders if Yuta thinks Mark looks equally as attractive when he opens beer bottles, or maybe Yuta thinks he looks even more attractive. He wonders what Mark looks like opening a wine bottle too, and decides to stop there.

It wouldn't do him good to start imagining Mark opening a wine bottle.

Jaemin grabs a hold of the malty beer before anyone else can, pouring halfway into his cup. He's intimidated by the colour, just a little, but the fizz looks inviting.

It's not his first drink, but it's his first beer. He's slipped in sips of wine from his parents, and then some from Mark, but this is a bit new. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Mark pour himself around a quarter cup of the other beer.

"Cheers," Mark says, holding his cup up. Jaemin does the same, and they clink cups together before Mark downs the whole thing in one go.

That, is also, something very attractive about him.

But Jaemin ignores that thought in favour of taking a sip of his beer, wincing at the slight burn as it travels down his throat.

"Don't like it?" Mark chuckles, noticing the younger's reaction. "That's alright. Maybe you like wine better."

"It's not that," Jaemin sighs, taking another sip. "Just not used to it, I guess."

Jaemin watches as everyone else drinks, Renjun and Jeno as ballsy as ever, and despite Donghyuck's initial excitement, he's more tentative as he sips of the alcohol. Chenle is neutral, drinking the beer like it's water, while Jisung has a similar reaction to him.

The effects of alcohol show themselves quickly, seeing as none of them were used to it. Jaemin and Mark settle on sharing whatever was left in Jaemin's cup, both agreeing to keep an eye on everyone else, seeing as they were going at it.

It doesn't take long until one of the bottles are empty, the aftermath consisting of Jisung and Chenle giggling together in their own world while Donghyuck tries to shove his finger up Renjun's nose. He knows that Donghyuck and Jeno are drunk for sure, but the other three are more tipsy than anything else.

"How do they do that?" Mark asks in a whisper, referring to Chenle and Jisung, who are getting better and better with tolerating the burn of alcohol with the more sips they take. "And where did they learn that?"

Jaemin shrugs, leaning his head onto Mark's shoulder. His legs are beginning to get a little chilly from the air conditioning in the room, so he brings them up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them.

"Just don't tell their moms,"

Mark snorts, seeming to notice Jaemin's discomfort.

"Are you cold?" He asks, already turning around and grabbing the blanket from the bed behind them. He pulls, and it messes up the bed greatly, but there's now a blanket on his legs, so he does feel a little better. "There you go."

It's rather quiet twenty minutes later, after they've all stopped drinking to bathe in the after effects. The dark and roasty beer still has a few sips left in it, and Mark offers it to Jaemin, who decides to drink half of what was left just for the hell of it.

"I like this one," he comments with a grimace, to which Mark bursts out laughing. He doesn't look like he believes him, but he doesn't say anything about it as he finishes what's left in the bottle.

Jaemin also thinks the way his lips wrap around the mouth of the bottle is attractive. And the way his Adam's apple bobs up and down when he swallows. And the way his eyes—

And then Mark is kissing him, tasting woody and like fish. It's the weirdest combination, but Jaemin doesn't hate it. Maybe he just doesn't hate it because it's Mark, but that thought is pushed to the back of his mind in favour of pushing the feeling of Mark's hands on his waist to the forefront.

"A picture lasts longer," Mark mumbles against his lips, staring into the younger's eyes.

Jaemin feels his face flush all over again, hot running from the tips of his ears down to his neck. Mark's thin t-shirt suddenly feels like a wool sweater, but that could just be the effect of having Mark this close to him.

"Sorry," the younger answers, unable to tear his eyes away from Mark's face.

His face, which looks ten times more handsome up close, pores and eyelashes on display. His eyes which sparkle at any given moment, wide and adorable. Mark's nose which might as well have been sculpted by the Gods themselves, and his jawline which adds another layer of attractiveness. His moles, scattered across his cheeks and down his neck, one by his mouth. His lips, which are almost always as chapped as Jaemin's, but still softer than his own.

And as he's staring at his best friend's face from this close, praising all the things that would be seen as imperfections, he knows.

He likes Mark.

"Don't be," the older boy answers, and then his lips are on his again, a hand cupping his jaw similarly to the way he had in the photo booth hours ago. He still tastes like beer, an add mix of the two of them, and Jaemin guesses he doesn't taste any better.

Where his face flushed before, this time he feels like his face could melt off. Because now it's not just a boy kissing him, it's not just his best friend kissing him, because now it's Mark kissing him.

His crush.

So it's Jaemin this time who pokes his tongue out against the seam of Mark's lips, licking over his teeth when granted entrance. His tongue brushes against Mark's, and a he shivers at the feeling, his arms coming around Mark's waist to bring them closer together.

Mark's legs brush against his bare ones under the blanket, and goosebumps erupt all over them. Their about to tangle together, and Jaemin can feel himself tipping back, but they're broken apart when a pillow comes flying at them.

"You guys can leave if you'll just start eating each other," Chenle spits.

Jaemin is panting when he looks back at Chenle, his eyes a bit unfocused, still seeing everything through rose-tinted glasses after Mark's kisses. He's about to pull away and resume back into regular conversation, like they've always done, but this time Mark doesn't let them.

This time, Mark doesn't say anything as he grabs Jaemin by the wrist, pulling him up and dragging him out of Renjun, Donghyuck and Jeno's room. He seems deaf to the incredulous calls behind him, but Jaemin still hears them.

"It's finally happening," he hears Jeno slur, followed by Donghyuck embarrassingly cheering.

"Disgusting," Jisung sighs, earning a hum of agreement from Renjun.

Jaemin can't catch at what Chenle says, already out the door with Mark still holding onto him.

"Where's our room key?" He asks, Jaemin, who dazedly answers his question, still confused by the how quickly things have taken place.

"My pocket," he says, digging it out. He swipes it and unlocks their door. Once they’re subside, Mark's hands are immediately on him again and pushing up against the wall as their tongues dance together.

His grip is borderline bruising, even over the fabric of his t-shirt, but it sends pleasant and exciting tingles up his spine, so Jaemin finds himself pushing into the older boy's touch. His arms come up to wrap around Mark's neck, holding him close and fisting the hair at the back of his head when the sensations run too high.

"Mark," Jaemin whines into the other's mouth, nerve endings hot as if someone dipped them gasoline and lit them alight.

"Shh, baby," Mark mutters, lips trailing down from his mouth to press kisses to his cheeks, down to sucking on his jaw and finally kissing down his neck.

But what sticks to Jaemin more than the wet slide of Mark’s lips against his neck is the name which fell off of his lips so easily, so naturally.

"Oh my God," he finds himself whimpering, tugging at the hairs at the base of Mark's neck to bring him back up, kissing him with fervour. "You're so hot,"

And maybe Jaemin blames it on the alcohol he drank earlier.

Maybe he even blames it on the light buzz in his veins.

If he really wanted to, he could blame it on the alcohol Mark had consumed earlier or the buzz that's probably in the other’s veins too.

But whatever it was, he's elated when it results in Mark pulling him off of the wall and pushing him down onto the bed.

This is a new angle, kissing Mark while the other is on top of him, leg between his own two and hands on either side of his head, keeping himself balanced. It's new, all the sensations coursing through his body and all the feelings pumping through his heart. He has no doubt in his mind that Mark is able to hear the thumping beat of his heart, and it feels like it could bruise his rib cage with how violently it's throbbing.

"We should stop," Mark says against the skin of his neck, and despite his words, his tongue is still laving over the small marks he left, breath harsh in Jaemin's ear when he leans up to kiss his forehad.

But Jaemin has other ideas.

"No," he whispers, opening his eyes to look into Mark's, whose face is directly above his, equally as red and breathless. "I don't wanna stop."

Mark looks contemplative, but the look is gone as soon as Jaemin pulls him back for another kiss, running his hands down Mark's spine over his shirt.

"Please don't stop hyung,"

Jaemin thinks he hears Mark let out a sound that could be classified as a growl, something that rumbles from deep inside his chest. If he wasn't burning all over then he definitely is now, eager to know what other sounds Mark was capable of making.

"You need to take this off," Mark says, lightly grabbing onto Jaemin's pump, still attached to the waistband of his shorts.

Jaemin's smiles when Mark looks back at him, arching his back off of the bed lightly.

"Then take it off for me," he whispers, smile widening when Mark bends down to kiss him as he quickly but gently removes the patches from Jaemin's waist, careful as to not rip anything. Their kiss is more teeth than anything because of Jaemin's broad smile, but it disappears when Mark lays his pump away on the bedside table, fingers delicate as his hands rest on the bare skin of his waist.

"Hyung," he breathes, his hands coming back around to cup the older boy's face. Jaemin's thumbs run under both his eyes, kissing the corner of his mouth and his cheeks.

"I know," Mark mutters, turning his head to the side to kiss Jaemin's palm. He trails his lips down to Jaemin's wrist next, kissing his pulse point softly. "I'll take care of you."

And then it's all lips on bare skin, limbs tangled together and a beautiful melody Jaemin doesn't think he'll be able to ever forget even if he tried. At the start and end of it, it's all Mark. Mark's arms wrapped around him, Mark's skin on his own, Mark's eyes looking into his.

His eyes.

His eyes hold the universe in them. They hold everything Jaemin was blind to before looking at Mark the way he does now. Mark's eyes sparkle with unspoken words, with sentences that weren't able to be vocalized in favour of Jaemin helping a different sound vocalize out of his throat.

But Jaemin sees it.

He looks into his orbs, sees the sparkles, understands the words and that's enough.

That's enough for him to lose himself in the moment, to succumb to what he didn't know he wanted all these years.

And at the end of it, just like it was at the start of it, it's him and Mark, the sheets and a new bond between them.

It's enough.

No— It's more than enough.

To Jaemin, it's like the world is laying behind them as they drift off to sleep.

<>

When Mark's phone blares an offensively loud alarm the next morning, Jaemin's entire body aches as he makes a move to turn it off. The time on Mark's phone lets him know that its 7:00am, and he groans at the idea of being awake so early.

"Someone's grumpy,"

Jaemin startles, seeming to have forgotten that the alarm woke up Mark too.

The older boy's morning voice is deep and raspy against his ear, heavy with sleep and croaky.

It makes him blush, Mark's presence along his back, voice in his ear, and the ache in his own body, reminding him of what happened last night. There's a dull ache pounding at the back of his head too, but it's not unbearable. Jaemin guesses it's because he hadn't had too much to drink, but he can't imagine how the others must feel, seeing as they didn't heed Mark's advice.

"Good morning," Jaemin says quietly, keeping his back facing Mark. He's not ready to face Mark Lee in all his 'I just woke up' glory, not yet.

"Morning," Mark huffs back, and Jaemin doesn't even need to be looking at him to know that hes biting back a smile. "How's your head?"

"Bearable," he answers, tensing a little when he feels Mark's fingers tickling his tummy from under the blankets. He grabs his hand, under the excuse of stopping him, but if he just wanted to hold Mark's hand, no one had to know. "How's yours?"

"Not the worst I've had," he snorts, and suddenly Jaemin is reminded of the fact that Mark is a university student.

Not just a university student, but in a university that's fourty minutes away from where he will be going.

Suddenly, Jaemin's hands hold onto Mark's tighter.

"When you leave—”

"Don't think about it," Mark cuts off, suddenly sounding a bit serious.

"How can I?" Jaemin says back quickly. "After... After last night..."

"Is your pump okay?" Mark asks instead, referring to how he has clipped it onto his boxers before they fell alseep.

"Mark—”

"Is it, Jaemin?"

Jaemin lets a few seconds of silence pass by them before answering.

"Yes,"

"Good,"

And then Mark presses a kiss to the back of his neck, whispering against it after.

"When I go back to school, nothing changes. Because we've already survived this year, didn't we?" Jaemin nods. "Then we'll survive many more. Together, Nana."

"Together," Jaemin whispers, nodding slowly as he processes the soft promises laced between Mark's words. "Okay."

It's not concrete, but Jaemin can't completely blame Mark for his answer. It's not like Jaemin gave him a concrete answer either.

So he pushes it to the back of his mind for now, and the two of them get up to get ready. Donghyuck had strictly set their time of departure at 9:00am again, and Jaemin wants to curse at him for it. What's up with Donghyuck and wanting to do things in the early morning?

Mark gets up to shower first, kissing Jaemin's forehead when he heads to the bathroom in only his boxers. Jaemin is glad Mark can't see him turn red, spotting the scratches on Mark's back and bruises on his chest.

Once the older boy is in the bathroom with the door closed behind him, Jaemin throws the blanket off of his body. A gust of cool air washes over his, goosebumps rising on his legs and arms.

Speaking of legs, when Jaemin looks down at them, he blushes an even darker crimson at the sight of the multitude of blue and purple bruises on the insides of his thighs.

He brings a tentative finger down to one of them, pressing down on it until it starts to ache, making him flinch. He does the same thing to a few more, a small and soft smile coming onto his lips when he envisions the Mark from last night between his legs, looking up at him with swollen lips and messy hair.

Jaemin squeals into the blanket, reminding himself awfully of a schoolgirl with her first crush, but he guesses that that's just what he is.

He's scrolling through his phone and answering messages with a lot of nasty innuendos from his friends, replying vaguely just to keep them on their toes. And partially because he didn't really want to reveal the details; this was something with Mark that Jaemin is sure he'll cherish for a very long time. Forever, even.

Mark comes out of the shower not even ten minutes later, toweling his hair dry and changed into basketball shorts and a hoodie. He looks unnecessarily attractive with his dripping hair and round glasses, but it's sight for sore eyes, so Jaemin will gladly admit that he has sore eyes.

He gets out of bed then to pick up his own clothes, ignoring the whistle he receives from Mark when he rolls out of the blankets.

"Shut up," he grumbles, holding his clothes, pump, and towel to his chest.

Mark only smiles fondly at him from where he's sitting on the bed they hadn't used last night.

"You're adorable,"

Jaemin rushes into the bathroom just so that Mark wouldn't be able to see his blush, and in the confinements of the bathroom, he lets himself smile at Mark's laugh that he can hear through the door.

Showering with hot water feels nice, relaxes all his muscles and soothes the ache deep within them. It also washes away the sweat which has caked onto him throughout the night, which leads him to scrub his body extremely well with a loofah. Jaemin probably didn't smell good when he woke up, so he intends to redeem himself with this shower.

When Jaemin comes out of the bathroom in track pants and a hoodie of his own, he sees Mark in the midst of packing all the snacks and food around their room.

It's in relative silence that they finish packing their clothes and such, the occasional question thrown in here and there. Other than that though, it's a comfortable atmosphere they find themselves in.

"I feel sorry for whoever has to clean our sheets," Jaemin says when they're done packing. Their room is spotless aside from the beds.

"Think about it," Mark starts, throwing an arm around Jaemin's shoulders as they walk out of their room. "It can't be worse than Renjun, Donghyuck and Jeno's bed."

Mark makes a fair point, which makes Jaemin grimace. He didn't want to think about that.

After they make sure they didn't leave anything in their room and that they have their key card with them, Jaemin and Mark make their way down to where the complimentary breakfast is served.

Once they've arrived, they spot Renjun, Donghyuck and Jeno already sitting at a table and eating. They all acknowledge each other, and Mark and Jaemin grab their breakfast before they sit with the other three.

"I assume your night went well after you ditched us?" Jeno says with a smirk. Jaemin notices that Jeno's eyes are trained to a particularly low spot on his throat, to which he blushes and tugs the neckline of his hoodie up.

Donghyuck and Renjun snicker when they notice this, and Mark just quietly eats his breakfast without looking at anyone.

"Shut up," Jaemin mutters. "Where are Chenle and Jisung?" He asks, trying to change the topic.

Renjun notices this, giving him an annoyed look, but he answers the question anyway.

"They were both hammered yesterday, and Jisung let something slip about his feelings shortly after you guys left," he explains.

"They're probably having 'the talk'," Donghyuck adds, emphasizing his words with air quotes.

Jaemin hums, and then silence falls over the table as everyone eats breakfast.

When they're all almost finished, Chenle and Jisung come over to sit, all small smiles and shy giggles. Jaemin assumes their talk went well.

"Right, so we have twenty minutes before we're scheduled to leave," Donghyuck announces a few minutes later, to which Jisung rolls his eyes.

"Nothing is going to happen if we're like, half an hour late," he says, earning an incredulous look from Donghyuck.

"I promised your mom you would be home by a certain time. Also, how's your head? You too Chenle, your parents can't know we gave you beer," Donghyuck says matter of factly as he digs through his backpack, pulling out a small bottle of ibuprofen.

"You knew you'd be able to coerce me into buying you guys alcohol, didn't you?" Mark asks upon seeing Donghyuck and Jisung and Chenle the little pills.

"Now now, don't say it like that," Donghyuck frowns, pulling his lips into a teasing smile right after. "I did plan this trip after all."

Mark scoffs at Donghyuck, mumbling 'ridiculous' under his breath.

It's a quick affair afterwards, checking out and piling their things into the car once more. It's the same seating as yesterday, which Jaemin is grateful for, seeing as he's planning on sleeping through majority of the car ride back.

Before they get onto the highway, Mark stops for gas, taking Renjun's card inside to buy everyone the snacks or drinks of their choice. When he comes back, he takes out an iced coffee bottle from the bag before passing it to the back, handing Jaemin the bottle.

"I didn't ask for it though?" He says confusedly, placing the bottle into the cup holder.

Mark shrugs, one hand on the back of Jaemin's seat as he backs out of the pump station, and it's just another thing Jaemin wants to tattoo onto his eyelids because Mark looks so extremely hot doing that.

"I knew you wanted one,"

Jaemin smiles.

"Thanks," he whispers. Mark doesn't say anything else, instead he puts his hand on Jaemin's thigh, letting it rest there as he drives.

It may be over the fabric of his pants, but to Jaemin it still feels like Mark's hand is burning its imprint onto his thigh.

The first hour of the drive is relatively quiet, majority of the boys sporting hangovers which lead them to doze off again. It's only Donghyuck, Jaemin and Mark who are fully awake, though Jaemin is on the verge on falling asleep himself. Not because his head hurts... More so other things...

Donghyuck seems to catch onto his tiredness though.

"You didn't even drink much last night," he notes, squinting his eyes at Jaemin from behind. And then, it clicks in his brain, and a smirk comes onto his lips. "Ah. I see."

He sounds smug as he talks, eyeing the hand on Jaemin's thigh, so the latter just glares at him through the rear view mirror, too exhausted to waste his breath on Donghyuck.

"You can sleep," Mark says softly, squeezing the hand on Jaemin's thigh lightly. "I'll wake you up when we get food."

Jaemin only hums, putting his hand atop of Mark's and holding it as a way of saying 'thank you' insted of vocalizing it.

He doesn't remember much after that, one minute he's falling asleep to the drift of the car and the soft music playing from the playlist Mark has set up on the AUX, and the next Mark is shaking him awake and the car is parked.

"Where are we?" He croaks, rubbing a fist to his eye to get rid of the sleep. Mark unbuckles his seat belt for him so that it's easier to stretch his body out.

"The boys wanted to stop at Subway for lunch. You don't have to get out if you don't want, Jisung's still asleep. Chenle is grabbing his food, so I can get yours if you'd like," Mark offers. Jaemin only half processes what Mark says, too focused on how nice it is to see Mark's face first thing when he wakes up.

Eventually, he finally comprehends what the older boy had said.

"I'll stay with Jisungie," he answers, clearing his throat after it came out croaky. "You remember my order?"

Makr hums while nodding his head, digging through the pockets of his shorts and giving Jaemin the car keys.

"Lock the car when I leave and turn the air conditioning on again if it gets too hot," he instructs. "We'll be back soon."

With that, Mark kisses Jaemin before exiting the car. Jaemin does as told and locks the doors after he's gone, relishing in the silence of the car. It only takes three minutes though, for him to hear rustling come from the back of the car.

"Where did everyone go?" Jisung asks, voice also groggy and thick with sleep. Jaemin doesn't have to look at him to know that he's probably scrunching up his nose as he yawns.

"Lunch," Jaemin answers, turning around in his seat to look at Jisung. "Chenle's grabbing your order."

Jisung hums, pulling out his phone. Jaemin can see his thumbs moving rapidly, and there's no doubt in his mind that he's texting Chenle.

"Speaking on Chenle," he continues, gathering the younger's attention. "How did your talk go this morning?"

Jisung splutters, turning a pale shade of red.

"How do you know about that?" He asks, to which Jaemin smirks.

"I didn't know for sure until right now. Renjun and Donghyuck said you said something last night to Chenle. You guys weren't that subtle during breakfast either," he chuckles, amused by the way Jisung keeps on blushing. "How did it go?"

Jisung sighs, probably acknowledging that he's not getting out of this one.

"I didn't remember that I said something until Chenle talked to me about it. He basically just said that he um... That he knew I liked him but it was nice to hear it from me," he explains shyly.

Jaemin thinks it's cute.

"So you guys are dating now?" He asks, watching as Jisung blushes darker, but shakes his head. "No?" He says confusedly.

"We're taking it slow," he says, smiling down at his phone, thumbs immediately back at work. Chenle probably texted him. "We're planning a date for next week."

Jaemin's smile softens.

"I'm happy for you guys, Ji,"

"Thanks," the younger says awkwardly, clearing his throat right after. "What about, um, you and Mark hyung? Your neck..." He trails off, motioning to the base of his own neck.

Now it's Jaemin's turn to flush red, pulling his hoodie up again.

"We... Well," he starts, furrowing his eyebrows when he remembers that they haven't talked about it. "We just—"

But he doesn't get to finish his sentence, because knocking on the window cuts him off. Jaemin look over and sees Mark and the other's waiting outside the car.

He's grateful he's saved from having to explain this to Jisung, so he quickly unlocks the door.

Everyone piles in noisily, fatigue long forgotten from all their brains and systems.

"Here you go," Mark says once he's sitting down, handing Jaemin his sandwich.

"Thanks," he says with a smile and kiss to the cheek.

It's a quiet lot of conversation and Mark reminding them to 'please don't spill anything or I will ask you to pay for cleaning'.

Mark starts driving when he's done his food, burping out loud when he starts onto the highway again.

"Everyone say, ‘thank you Donghyuck’," said male says contently, heavily satisfied with the trip they had.

"Thank you Donghyuck," everyone choruses back dryly, wiping the satisfaction right off of Donghyuck's face. Jaemin hears Renjun and Jeno properly thank him before he deices to tune them out, popping the last bite of his sandwich into his mouth and crumpling the paper wrappings. He throws them into a plastic bag by his feet, finally opening the bottle of coffee Mark had bought him from the gas station.

He offers the bottle to Mark, who graciously takes a few sips all while keeping his eyes on the road, and Jaemin has to, once again, will his eyes to look away from the way his Adam's apple bobs up and down while swallowing.

When Mark hands the bottle back, he twists the cap back on and puts it back in the cup holder. Before he can move his hand from there though, Mark grabs it, interlacing their fingers together.

Jaemin wishes he didn't blush when the older throws him a glance for a half second.

The rest of the hour drive goes by more like it did when they were driving to their destination yesterday, loud talking and loud laughing.

Jaemin doesn't want to fall back asleep, he wants to join in on the stupidity Jeno is spewing and the bad jokes Jisung is making, but he finds his eyelids closing on their own accord, head rested on the car window.

The next time his eyes open, the car is quiet and parked. The music is also off, and Mark's finger is tracing the lines on his palm.

"Where's everybody?" He asks while yawning.

"I dropped them off," Mark answers softly, reaching over the center console to brush Jaemin's bangs out of his eyes.

"I'm last?"

"Yeah, I... I wanted to talk to you about something."

Jaemin is immediately more awake than he was fifteen seconds ago, sitting up straighter and clearing his throat.

"Don't look so serious," Mark chuckles.

"Well I can't help it when you use that voice," the younger weakly defends, turning around in his seat so that he was facing Mark completely. "But um, what's up?"

Mark smiles at him fondly, shaking his head a little before neutralizing his expression a bit and looking right at him. Jaemin would be lying if he said he wasn't even the tiniest bit intimidated or scared, but he wills those thoughts away so that he doesn't psych himself out.

"I don't really think I need to ask," he starts with a whisper, reminding Jaemin that they're holding hands when he runs his thumb over his knuckles. "But you like me, right? That's why... Everything happened yesterday?" Jaemin nods his head, not trusting his voice to not break embarrassingly. He can already feel his face get hotter. "When?"

"I don't really know," Jaemin admits honestly, looking down at their hands. "I just looked at you and everything... Fell into place, I guess," he explains sheepishly. "It made a lot of sense actually. Liking you just made sense."

Mark is smiling at him, his other hand coming up to cup Jaemin's cheek. He pulls his face closer while coming closer himself, and Jaemin squeezes his hand in anticipation.

"I like you too, baby," Mark confesses, again with the damned nickname, rendering Jaemin red with a thumping heart. "Since forever, I've liked you."

"Really?" Jaemin asks, voice breathy, heart pounding with the revelation that his feelings are reciprocated. He guesses it makes sense though, looking back on every time Mark took extra care of him, driving forty minutes just to see him and picking up Jaemin's calls in the middle of the night.

"Really,"

And then Mark's lips are on his, but it's a different kind of fervour compared to their others kisses. This time there's an added layer of adoration and feeling, something Jaemin can't get enough of.

"Will you be my boyfriend, Jaemin-ah?"

"Take me on a date first, damn," he jokes against Mark's lips, giggling happily when Mark starts pecking his face repeatedly. How could he say no to that? He couldn't, even if he tried. "Yeah hyung, I'll be your boyfriend," he sighs happily.

The next few minutes are them making out, not that Jaemin is complaining, but he should really get home before his mother starts worrying.

"As much as I'd like to stay here and kiss you for hours," Jaemin pants as he pulls away. "I should get home."

"I guess you should," Mark sighs reluctantly, pecking Jaemin's lips three more times before he completely pulls away.

"Don't sound too disappointed," Jaemin hums as he puts his seat belt back on. "You can take me on a date tomorrow."

Mark chuckles, his seat belt also on as he takes Jaemin's hand in his again, resting them over the center console.

"Get ready for the best date of your life, Na Jaemin,"

Jaemin didn't think all this would've unrolled when he asked Mark to be his first kiss, but he's not really complaining.

Especially not if it means Mark can be his last kiss as well.